Queen City Senior Bowl Defensive Standouts

The 7th Annual Queen City Senior Bowl was an entertaining game with big plays made by talented players on both teams. However, in the end, the West won its 5th consecutive game over the East Team, 25-20. We'll highlight some of the players who made a big impact for both teams. As a note, the Queen City Senior Bowl is a game that raises money for the Metro School in Charlotte, NC, who help teach kids who have several different types of disabilities.    Jason was named Defensive MVP of the Queen City Senior Bowl on the strength of two interceptions he made during the game. On the first one, the East Team was trying a trick play, and tried to hit a deep post route going down the middle of the field. Jason didn't bite on the trickery, stayed deep, and made an impressive leaping interception, grabbing the ball at its highest point. On the 2nd one, Jason was in the right place on an attempted screen pass, and he plucked the ball out of the air and ran it back for a Pick 6 touchdown. Coming off making an interception in the state championship game, Jason finished the season on a huge note!     At the linebacker position on the West Team, I felt like Chris made the biggest impact. Chris made some highlight-worthy tackles on a couple of occasions - one being on a bootleg pass the East Team had success on earlier in the game. Chris snuffed it out quickly and made an impressive hit on a tight end in pass coverage. Secondly, Chris showed his speed and hustle on a big run the East Team had. Chris chased the back downfield and laid a big hit on him to prevent him from possibly scoring a touchdown. Chris is committed to Lenoir-Rhyne, and they got a good one.     Jacob probably made the two biggest plays of the game for the West Team in securing their 25-20 victory. The East Team had consecutive 3rd and 4th downs from the 1-yard line late in the 4th quarter with a chance to take the lead, but Jacob knifed in the backfield quickly on both occasions to stop the play before it even got started. Jacob isn't the biggest defensive lineman, but his quickness is special off the snap at times, and he showed it in the biggest moment of this game. Harding didn't have a great season, but this will be something that will always be remembered in Queen City Senior Bowl history.     The most impactful DB on the East Team, I think, was Elijah. He came up and did a good job in run support on several occasions. His most memorable play was a near interception on a 3rd down pass outside the hashes. Elijah was matched up in man coverage and broke on the route very quickly, and got two hands on the pass breakup. I think overall, Elijah is underrated in a lot of people's eyes, and he showed he belonged with the best in Charlotte in this game.     Brenan had a nice game both as an off-ball linebacker and in getting some pass-rushing snaps off the edge in 3rd down situations. His most notable play came on 3rd down near the end of the first half when he got a nice rush around the left tackle and chased the West Team quarterback down for a big sack. Brenan also did a good job overall, making tackles and getting everyone lined up correctly on a consistent basis.     Out of the defensive line group on the East Team, I felt like Kalum had the most consistent impact throughout the course of the game. Kalum did a pretty good job of setting the edge - I can really only remember one time where the West was able to break a big run to the outside. Kalum also provided some pressure in the pass rush on a couple of plays, flushing the quarterback out of the pocket and forcing some well-timed incompletions from a defensive perspective.

The 7th Annual Queen City Senior Bowl was an entertaining game with big plays made by talented players on both teams. However, in the end, the West won its 5th consecutive game over the East Team, 25-20. We'll highlight some of the players who made a big impact for both teams. As a note, the Queen City Senior Bowl is a game that raises money for the Metro School in Charlotte, NC, who help teach kids who have several different types of disabilities.