Football City Clash: Top Performers Day 1 18U Division

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Prep Redzone 7-on-7 circuit made its way to the Palmetto State on Saturday afternoon in Rock Hill as teams from South Carolina, North Carolina, and even Ohio competed at Manchester Meadows in the 18U division. Here's a look at 17 players that caught our eye from the games that we saw during our time.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We'll dive into a lot more of what we saw later, but here's a look at the top performers from the session:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1790580' first='Jacob' last='Owings'] </strong>from Wren impressed us early on with the velocity on his throws. He has good patience waiting for routes to come open. One of his frequent targets was teammate <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2066752' first='Jack' last='Hughes']</strong> who ran solid routes throughout the session, including on a dig route. He made an excellent, acrobatic catch for a two-point conversion.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2151598' first='Braylon' last='Boyd'] </strong>from Ohio made two interceptions, one that was critical to end a drive in the end zone.<strong> Noel Bryant</strong> made an acrobatic catch for a two point conversion to secure a win for his team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1670881' first='Cainan' last='Kerchner'] </strong>from Myers Park out of Charlotte made good throws throughout the session. He was patient to wait on the routes to come open, like on a vertical route from his teammate <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1680614' first='Eric' last='Santos']</strong>. <strong>Gary Jones </strong>made a game changing interception that helped them win the game early on in the day.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brayden Graceffa </strong>from Monroe did a nice job of finding a guy out of the backfield for a score. He takes what the defense gives him on the throws. He connected with <strong>Josh Autry </strong>on an unbelievable catch for a touchdown, high pointing the ball. <strong>Sidnee Westbrook </strong>had a pass breakup on a 2-point attempt, before making an acrobatic catch for a first down in the next game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As the afternoon progressed, <strong>Dai'Shon Watkins </strong>from Dorman caught our eye with a nice catch down the sideline, setting up a touchdown. His teammate <strong>Gecoby Parks </strong>stepped right in front of the ball to make an interception before making another one, this time off a tip drill.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Moving back up to the Tar Heel State, two players from Providence Day stood out starting with receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1332065' first='Ethan' last='Dempsey']. </strong>He was a consistent connection in the slot and showed smooth hands. He consistently found a way to get open, no matter what the coverage. <strong>Cole Carter </strong>did a good job of recognizing coverage to get his guys. He has a good velocity on his throws.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kings Mountain's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1605503' first='Jordan' last='Jenkins'] </strong>made an excellent throw to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1657753' first='Doc' last='Caldwell'] </strong>for a touchdown. Caldwell beat man coverage well and consistently got open.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Max Cicchinelli </strong>from Ohio looked impressive on rollout throws in leading his team downfield throughout the game that we saw.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Moving down to the Lowcountry of South Carolina, Wando's <strong>Cannon Demoura </strong>made a nice catch over the middle for a score and ran good routes. He excelled on routes over the middle.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->