Week 7 Scouting Report: East Kentwood

Honestly, neither team deserved to lose this game. Both played well, showcased a ton of talent and made some major plays in the clutch. Despite the loss, East Kentwood should still have some high hopes moving forward. Below are just a few of the phenomenal pieces I got to see on Friday.    Kayd was absolutely as advertised on Friday night. He was poised and in command all night long, culminating in a huge touchdown on the ground for Kayd, capping off what was already a huge night on the ground for him. He threw for 3 touchdowns, and was able to add 3 more on the ground for East Kentwood.   -Super live arm. Great velocity and accuracy even under pressure. Delivers the ball quickly and hits them in stride.   -A true dual threat guy who can extend the play or just take off and hurt the defense with his legs when the defense sleeps on his legs.   -Great emotional and vocal leader of this EK team. Consistently hyped up his guys, kept his teammates in it through the ups and downs of the game, and operated like another coach on the field.     This was my first time seeing Ahman in game action, and I came away incredibly impressed. His athleticism was obvious right away. There are very few defensive backs at the high school level who can match this kind of elite speed. His explosiveness and playmaking ability has made him the focal point of the East Kentwood offense, for good reason.   -Very elite acceleration. Constantly gets separation, then hurts the defense more with his run after catch ability. Great vision and great top-end speed.   -Good and consistent hands, no drops. Developing into a very reliable target.   -Dangerous returner. His vision and burst allows him to beat good coverage for extra yardage.     Malachi was one of the hardest workers on the field on Friday night. He's a fluid, physical linebacker with the instincts and athleticism to pose a real problem for offenses. His ability to diagnose plays quickly and get downhill was extremely impressive.   -A downhill thumper who also has the range to get sideline to sideline. Good angles and solid speed.   -Good play recognition and block shedding allowed him to blow up plays before they developed. Trusts what he is reading.   -Relentless worker who never takes a play off. Was high effort all night, and it felt like he was in on every tackle.     [player_tooltip player_id='1291369' first='Donavan' last='Jones'] is absolutely the real deal. Whether he was flying downhill to fill gaps in the run game or playing as a ball hawking safety on the back end, his presence was felt, and you could tell the offense was doing their best to test him too much.   -Reads the quarterback's eyes and breaks on the ball quickly if the QB looks for too long.   -Physical in the run game, has no issue coming downhill and playing in the box.   -Natural ball-tracking ability with the athleticism to contest anything thrown his way.     This dude was an absolute gap controller all night long. Hudsonville struggled to get anything going between the tackles, largely because of Jones and his ability to anchor down and control his gap. Not only that, but Jones was largely able to impact the passing game and generate some pressure from the middle of the line.   -Strong legs, great ability to anchor down in the gap and allow no movement at the point of attack.   -Great first step, beat the offensive linemen multiple times just because they slept on his fire-off speed.   -Great tackler, wraps up, no arm tackles.

Honestly, neither team deserved to lose this game. Both played well, showcased a ton of talent and made some major plays in the clutch. Despite the loss, East Kentwood should still have some high hopes moving forward. Below are just a few of the phenomenal pieces I got to see on Friday.