The 2016 Spring Edition of BCP’s E7 series is in the books. Once again, the beautiful campus of Southeastern University in Lakeland provided the backdrop that coincided this year with chamber-of-commerce weather–thus equaling the closest thing to a perfect day in our predominantly-pigskined world. Prepare to be saturated like the ground following a flood with names-news-and-notes in the coming weeks starting with a county-by-county breakdown of ballers that busted their butts this week, but for now–here are your MVP’s from Sunday’s E7 event.
QB – Jakob Parks (Clearwater Central Catholic) – Class of 2017
Parks is the first of two members of CCC to bring home an award on the day. Parks is coming off a season in which he threw for 2,056 yards, 20 TD’s and 3 int’s for the Marauders, and his performance throughout the day was consistent in terms of accuracy, strength and decision-making. Parks’ assessment of the action today–“Just having fun throwing the ball–doing what I love.”
RB – Jacquan Heirs (Largo) – Class of 2018
Heirs is one of several Packers to make a splash during the course of the day and is looking to contribute in an even bigger fashion in 2016 after a 2015 totaling 257 yards on 54 carries and a touchdown. Heirs also plays defense posting 44 tackles, and interception and four passes defensed, but where he made his mark in the RB group was his excellent pass pro technique and overall was just a beast in terms of competitive spirit. Heirs’ favorite aspect of today was? “The intensity–and the competition.”
WR – Ryan Clark (Sunlake) – Class of 2017
Clark caught twenty-one passes for 461 yards and four touchdowns for the Seahawks in addition to nearly three-hundred yards in kick/punt returns. Clark’s work rate was superior today and his route-running was just as superlative giving undisciplined DB’s fits. Clark’s assessment of the action was? “There was a lot of good competition out there. I’m not as big of a named prospect as some of these guys out here today, but I busted my butt as hard as them worked for it.”
TE – Steven Witchoskey (Durant) – Class of 2017
He has an offer from USF and tells us that several Mid-American Schools are starting to gain interest, but this two-sport athlete took a moment from his baseball season with the Cougars to absolutely own the tight ends’ group amidst plenty of competition at the spot. Witchoskey caught eight passes for Durant totaling 127 yards and three touchdowns in 2015. “I think it was great–I just came out here today to have some fun and enjoy some quality competition on both sides of the ball.” said Witchoskey.
OL – Chandler Pearce (Lake Gibson) – Class of 2017
Pearce was another one of those prospects that brought a work-rate simply better than everyone else on the day whether it was in individual drills or 1-v-1’s against the defensive lineman. Pearce was a part of an offensive unit that produced over 3,000+ yards on the season including 2,000+ on the ground in 2015. “A lot of good work and good competition today. I just love coming to these camps because of their energy and their competitiveness.” said Pearce following the event.
DL – Xavier Lyas (Durant) – Class of 2017
The second member of Durant on this list was 5-feet-10 a little over a year ago and is now 6-feet-4 and still growing. The southpaw was simply unstoppable from his strong side of the line and was still dominating his positional match-ups from his weak side. It really didn’t matter who was opposite of him, Lyas was going to use either his length–or his speed to get around the edge and towards the QB. “Today was good, no today was actually great! I worked really hard in every rep and overall think I did great.” said a grinning Lyas following the end of the camp.
LB – Thomas Allen (Plant) – Class of 2017
Allen was super-productive for the Panthers in 2015 with 62 tackles–with an impressive 27 of those coming for loss. Allen’s quickness plus strength was on display in the linebackers grouping on Sunday in Lakeland and will be integral part in the Panthers’ plans to get back to the state finals on the defensive side of things. “It’s always fun to come out and compete with guys you know.” Allen said following the event.
CB – Bryce Smith (Fivay) – Class of 2018
Smith is a transfer from southern California–Riverside to be exact–and was a member of a state championship squad this past season before moving East. Smith is just a sophomore currently and what some would call undersized, but he possesses good feet/hips and is very crisp technically-speaking. He’s the kind of player you literally have to tell once what you want–and he gets it the first time. “It was a great camp and it was really good experience with a ton of tough competition out there.” said Smith.
S – Armari Burney (Clearwater Central Catholic) – Class of 2018
He’s going to plastered on every single P-5’s recruiting board by the end of the 2016 season, and he’ll still have another season to go after that. He’s 6-feet-2 and 210-pounds and is naturally smooth in his motion whether he’s heading backwards or heading towards the receiver. Burney’s performance was even more impressive watching him go against IMG’s Tre’ McKitty essentially all day–and he mentioned that. “It was a great experience today going against some great competition–especially going against Tre’ McKitty. He really helped me work harder today.” said Burney.