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PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL– Champions are crowned on Sundays at Pylon, one of the nation’s most competitive and exposure rich off-season platforms for development in High School Football. Today won’t be any different. Without many traditional “blue blood” 7v7 circuit programs in attendance, the tournament has no shortage on talent. The 24-team varsity bracket winner will have earned a very significant victory having outlasted teams built from America’s football hotbeds like Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The No. 1 seed belongs to team 24K, who with a 3-0 record, notched key win against No. 6 seed Louisiana Elite led by LSU commit Aaron Anderson, a pre-tournament favorite to win it all.
The strength of this tournament is its diversity. There are several teams from the DMV (Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia) and one of those top teams heading into today’s bracket play is team One Percent (1%) holding the No. 4 seed at 2-0-1. Their biggest prospect, four-star DB Oliver Bridges holds offers from several schools and with a 6’2 frame and length, will be a lock down candidate for today’s top receivers.
Sam McCall, 5-star WR, Team Florida Elite
As expected Team Florida Elite from St. Petersburg, FL, is the No. 2 seed at 3-0 and a strong favorite to make a deep run in bracket play today. All-everything wide-out 5-star Sam McCall of Lake Gibson High School (FL) effortlessly did great work on the field, catching balls in traffic and over the top of others all afternoon.
“Tomorrow’s for the money,” he said after pool play on Saturday. “We’ve got to go home, watch film and come back out ready to compete,” McCall said.
The talent-rich Team C3 Elite run by Dwayne Carter out of Navarre, FL is the No. 3 seed and competing in not only their first Pylon 7v7 tournament but their first tournament ever. They won their first pool play game in walk-off fashion trailing on the game’s final drive and coming back to get a key victory. They are led offensively by Raymond Cottrell, the 6’4 WR in the 2023 class from Milton High (FL) and defensively by one of the top targets for the University of Alabama and Georgia, respectively in Shemar James. The 6’2 nickel and outside linebacker is a big presence in the middle of the C3 defense but will be challenged to cover in space during today’s bracket play. He passed his pool-play test with flying colors.
Rounding out the top 5 is Team Ri5e from the west coast of Florida, a talent-laden team led by former FSU QB Adrian McPherson.
The winner will likely come from one of the top 10 seeds in the bracket. Any one of these teams has the talent and coaching skill to hoist the trophy. The No. 7 seed Coastline Stars and 4-star WR Larry Simmons (Moss Point, MS) will be a tough out today in bracket play. Newcomer Team Ceedy Ducks (No. 8 seed) run by Saints defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and led by 4-star All-American WR Jayden Gibson of West Orange High School.
Jacksonville-based Team Recordbreakerz (No. 9) and 9 Figure Sports Academy (No. 10) round out the top ten heading into bracket play. The finals begin today at 9:30 AM at the Panama City Beach Sports Complex.
TOP 10 SEEDS:
- 24K
- Team Florida Elite
- C3 Elite
- 1%
- Team Ri5e
- Louisiana Elite
- Coastline Stars
- Team Ceedy Ducks
- Recordbreakerz
- 9 Figures Sports Academy
