King of the Gridiron: Standouts, Part II

<strong>BIG LAKE, MINN-- </strong>We tap into more Prep Redzone NEXT content at King of the Gridiron in Big Lake as we found four more prospects out of the 8th-grade division that is certainly worth noting as they enter their high school career as we watched some of Minnesota's best on Sunday! <strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/IMG_3680-rotated-crop-1512x993-1635207213.jpg"><img class="alignleft wp-image-223048" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/IMG_3680-rotated-crop-1512x993-1635207213-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="251" height="165" /></a>Dayton Navy | Defensive Back | Brooklyn Park (MN) | 2026</strong> Dayton caught my attention with his attention to detail, showing some loose hips to make a key interception in the 8th-grade championship game for Brooklyn Park. Throughout the game, Dayton showed really good ball instincts and a reactive ability to make a play on the football. Again, there was a lot to like in the quick transition of the way his hips turned, and I look forward to seeing the development of more of his skill sets. <strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/IMG_3679-rotated-crop-1512x993-1635207279.jpg"><img class="alignleft wp-image-223050" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/IMG_3679-rotated-crop-1512x993-1635207279-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="248" height="163" /></a>[player_tooltip player_id="206354" first="Amari" last="Davison"] | Defensive Back | Crystal (MN) | 2026</strong> I watched Amari in a double-showing on Sunday and on both occasions, he rose to the top of my depth chart amongst 8th-grade defensive backs in Minnesota. This young man plays with great adrenaline and when the ball comes his way plays with discipline when turning his head to connect with the wide receiver at the right point in time. He plays like a go-getter and the bulk of the time he’s making a pass break up he’s doing it with a high contact level. His coaches have a great trust level in this young man, daring quarterbacks to throw into his island as not many do even if he doesn’t have backup forces. Amari has a good football pedigree with his older brother Ayden playing D1 football as well. For sure a 2026 defensive back to watch out of Minnesota. <strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/IMG_3675-rotated-crop-1512x993-1635207369.jpg"><img class="alignleft wp-image-223053" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/IMG_3675-rotated-crop-1512x993-1635207369-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="251" height="165" /></a>Abel Kennedy | Defensive Back | Brooklyn Park (MN) | 2026</strong> Abel was one of the top ballhawks I watched on Sunday. This young man consistently was a climber around the football and made play after play in the championship game. He showed a versatile skillset on Sunday, playing the pass rush and locking up in coverage where he brought in a key interception and showed a huge motor on his PBU. The more I look at the script, there is a lot of talented DBs in the Northwest Metro such as Abel Kennedy. <strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/IMG_3676-crop-1512x993-1635207456.jpg"><img class="alignleft wp-image-223057" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/IMG_3676-crop-1512x993-1635207456-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="251" height="165" /></a>[player_tooltip player_id="207810" first="Sean" last="Washington"] | Running Back/Linebacker | Coon Rapids (MN) | 2026</strong> Man, was there anything Sean couldn’t do on Sunday?! The burst of this kid was the absolute best I saw all weekend in the many games I took in. If you blinked, you would have missed him.  Not only did he show the fastest straight-line speed I saw, but he ran with pure authority between the tackles. It’s no secret that Sean plays bully-ball inside, as he 100% wants to truck over the defender right in front of him (and he did). This young also is a blow-up tackler with a high physicality level at linebacker as well. He may be only 5’6 175 pounds at this point in his football career, but man he sure as heck is durable and one that will only get bigger &amp; stronger as time goes on. One of the most explosive offensive players in Minnesota I’m looking forward to watching at the high school level. &nbsp;