A dominant day for the Kell Longhorns ended in yet another 7-on-7 championship. Kell has been on a hot streak, winning Georgia’s 7-on-7 yesterday and now winning the Brent Key/Corky Kell 7-on-7 today.
The event started with the Longhorns winning their first three games of pool play, including a 26-9 beatdown of two-time defending state champions, and last year’s winners, Milton. They eventually fell in the final game of pool play to Athens Academy, falling victim to the Spartans’ star wide receiver, Keyon Standifer, who was one of the most impressive players of the day.
That loss dropped them to the No. 4 seed; however, they didn’t let that slow them down. In bracket play, they defeated their opponents by a combined score of 118-18, a run that saw them stopped only five times and give up just one offensive score across all four games.
The Longhorns were led by a pair of stars. On offense, quarterback Kaleb Narcisse was elite, finding the open man and providing a steady presence as a passer. The real standout, however, was 4-star linebacker Brayden Rouse. Rouse, the do-it-all player for Kell, barely left the field. Interestingly enough, he hardly played linebacker. On offense, he lined up out wide, and on defense, he played more of a safety role than a traditional linebacker position.
Together, he and Narcisse helped the team dominate on both sides of the ball throughout the day. Alongside other high-end recruits, Kell became the third team to take home a championship plaque this summer. On what the win means for his team, Coach Bobby May said.
“Winning is cool, but really we just play with a lot of toughness. We’re at Georgia State on Tuesday too. We’ve played a lot of games, so we’ve had a lot of toughness. It was good to see we kept fighting even though we were tired.”
In addition to Kell, teams like Milton showed they are already prepared for the fall. Milton looked poised to compete for their third straight title, being the only team to play Kell to a one-score game in bracket play. Additionally, Rome and out-of-state Clay-Chalkville made strong runs to the semifinals and showed the promise expected of state title contenders. The most surprising team of the day was Locust Grove. After going just 5-5 last season, they went 4-0 in pool play and earned the No. 1 seed. They played Milton as close as possible in their Elite Eight game, ultimately falling 31-30.
SINGLE-ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
#1 Locust Grove 47, #16 Dodge County 6
#5 Milton 27, #12 South Atlanta 19
#8 Norcross 23, #10 Denmark 13
#4 Kell 42, #13 Seckinger 0
#3 Rome 35, #14 Hillgrove 29
#6 Creekside 34, Lambert 11
#9 Houston County 28, #8 Athens Academy 24
#2 Clay-Chalkville 3, #15 Trinity 2
Quarterfinals
#5 Milton 31, #1 Locust Grove 30
#4 kell 37, #8 Norcross 2
#3 Rome 35, #6 Creekside 29
#2 Clay-Chalkville 23, #9 Houston County 16
Semifinals
#4 kell 17, #5 Milton 11
#2 Clay-Chalkville 31, #3 Rome 21
Finals
#4 Kell 22, #2 Clay-Chalkville 5
Pool Play Results
10:00 AM:
Milton 44, Lambert 9
Creekside 20, Norcross 11
Clay-Chalkville 22, Rome 14
Houston County 27, Hillgrove 9
10:25 AM:
Kell 22, South Atlanta 11
Athens Academy 32, Dodge County 14
Seckinger 24, Trinity 7
Locust Grove 41, Denmark 0
10:50 AM:
Creekside 38, Athens Academy 15
Kell 26, Milton 9
Denmark 15, Hillgrove 6
Rome 28, Seckinger 2
11:15 AM:
Norcross 28, Dodge County 20
Lambert 20, South Atlanta 17
Locust Grove 39, Houston County 17
Clay Chalkville 23, Trinity 11
11:40 AM:
Milton 22, South Atlanta 10
Creekside 26, Dodge County 2
Rome 31, Trinity 10
Locust Grove 24, Hillgrove 17
12:05 AM:
Kell 23, Lambert 22
Athens Academy 18. Norcross 14
Clay-Chalkville 34, Seckinger 0
Houston County 20, Denmark 4
12:30 AM:
Athens Academy 28, Kell 20
Norcross 29, Lambert 9
Denmark 42, Seckinger 6
Clay-Chalkville 30, Houston County 13
12:55 AM:
South Atlanta 33, Dodge County 8
Milton 29, Creekside 21
Locust Grove 29, Trinity 3
Rome 25, Hillgrove 15
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