2019 National SPECIALIST Showcase

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Follow Duluth, GA— Spartanburg, South Carolina’s 2027 running back Trenton Lynch ran for two touchdowns and Miami Gardens, Florida native, Angelo Smith of Chaminade Madonna High School added a pick-six touchdown and a late pass deflection to give Team Red a narrow victory in the 9th Annual National High School Showcase Sophomore game. The final score was 22-18.Team White, led by defensive MVP, Ayden Montgomery and running back Kareem Shaw, teammates at Gaffney High in Easley, South Carolina, came within a late touchdown of winning the game.With under a minute left on second and goal, Team White quarterback Julian Ayala, escaped the pocket looking for wideout James Klaiss who was open in the endzone, but the pass was batted down by McEachern High School’s Freedom Jones an athlete that made plays at four different positions during the game.One third down, Ayala tried to find Gerald Hunter of Atlanta’s Mays High School but the pass was broken up by Angelo Smith. On the final play of the game, 4th and goal, Ayala was sacked by Miami Edison’s Edge Rusher Derrick Miller as the clock expired.  Miller took home lineman MVP honors on the afternoon.Game standouts include the following:–Freedom Jones (QB) the McEachern High School athlete played amazingly all game. Before he entered the game at QB in the fourth quarter, Jones did a ton of damage at EDGE with sacks and batted down passes. He was violent defender.  His 65- yard rushing TD at QB was called back due to a holding call behind the play and he also caught a pass at wide receiver. Overall, he has one of the most impressive games in Football Hotbed All-star history after film review. –Trenton Lynch (RB) is perhaps the biggest prospect coming out of this game. He was offered by Georgia State University on our Sunday college visit to their campus and has great sophomore film. Linked here. Overall, he was impressive all game as he was a load to bring down and displayed home run hitting speed. -Brookwood High School’s Kaiden McKenzie (OL/DL) had the most impressive game overall as a lineman on both sides of the ball. –Angelo Smith (DB) of South Florida powerhouse Chaminade Madonna had a very complete game. He had two catches on offense, three PBUs on defense and a interception for a touchdown. –Ayden Montgomery (WR) made an in-game switch to H-back and punished the Team Red defense in the air and added a TD reception.–Kareem Shaw (RB) ran the ball well and caught a touchdown pass. He played excellent on defense also. Helped Team White amass five turnovers, helping to keep the game close.–Keyon’Dre Wright (DB) had his second consecutive Football Hotbed Showcase game with an INT.  He secured one of Team White’s five turnovers this year and last year he caught a pick in the Freshman All-American Game.–Ethan Albertson (LB) the suburban Chicago defender had a sack-fumble than he eventually ran down the field 10 yards to recover for a Team White touchdown. –Gerald Hunter (DB) added an interception for Team White.–Immanuel Simmons (DB) added an interception for Team Red along with two PBUs.  watch the game: 2027 sophomore showcase GAME PHOTOS Freedom jones, qb/ath, powder springs, ga Overall, he has one of the most impressive games in Football Hotbed All-star history after film review.  Trenton lynch, rb, spartanburg, sc Overall, he was impressive all game as he was a load to bring down and displayed home run hitting speed.  Kaiden mckenzie, Ol/dl, snellville, ga Most impressive lineman overall Ethan albertson, lb, lake in the hills, il Had one of the most impressive plays of the game. A forced fumble, recovered for a TD. Angelo smith, db/wr, Miami gardens, fl Angelo Smith will be a big time recruit at safety and shows great potential as a slot WR also. Keyon'dre wright, db, hubert, nc Wright grabs his second consecutive INT in a Hotbed Showcase ayden montgomery, ATH, easley, sc

Follow Duluth, GA- The 2025 Football Hotbed Freshman All-American game was an amazing display of elite talent by the graduating class of 2028. The stars of a battle between two evenly divided teams were clearly Trinity, Florida’s wide receiver Luke Wilson and St. Albans, West Virginia quarterback Peyton Grigsby.  The two connected for three total touchdowns to give their “Team White” squad the victory over “Team Red” by a score of 18- 8. Wilson got the scoring started with a reception thrown by Grigsby that was an absolutely ‘dart’ of a throw in between triple coverage to outpace defenders. Overall, Grigsby passed for 269 yards and three touchdowns.  Most of that yardage came via Wilson.  Both players earned MVP honors at June’s National Middle School Invitational Showcase at the University of Miami and had some familiarity because of their participation and it showed. Team White totaled 334 yards in offense with two turnovers that were forced by Team Red. Team Red was led by athlete Michael McDuffie of Fort Lauderdale’s Calvary Christian Academy and quarterback Ryan Brochu of York, South Carolina. Red’s lone score came on a TD pass and great run after the catch by Naples, Florida wide out Jack Crifasi IV.  McDuffie was the game’s defensive MVP with several pass break ups, and he also ran the ball very effectively on the ground. game day mvps overall mvp - luke wilson, 2028 wr, trinity, fl Luke Wilson of Clearwater Central Catholic high school was an easy MVP selection.  He paced Team white’s offensive explosion with three touchdowns and tons of “yards after the catch” that made the opposing defense see “red” all day.  A performance like that, in 24 degree weather, for a kid from Southwest Florida is about as memorable as one can get.  Shades of Xaiver Restrepo, a University of Mimai Hurricane heading toward the NFL Draft this April. Wilson took the game seriously and approached it as a real launching pad for this career and that’s exactly why he did so well. He validated his National Middle School Invitational Showcase MVP award in June by grabbing a second consecutive MVP award on the Football Hotbed Platform. Defensive MVP- Michael Mcduffie- 2028 ATh, Ft. Lauderdale, FL McDuffie got it done on defense as the MVP but also on the ground. The stat line for Michael McDuffie says it all, 4 tackles with 4 pass break ups (PBU’s) and offensive production that kept his team in the game. With his size and speed combination, McDuffie has Division I talent.  He could settle in on either side of the ball but he’d be better suited at safety in our opinion because of how rare big safeties with speed and range are. It could make him a national recruit. Already listed at 5’10, 185 pounds as a freshman with room to grow is a great foundation upon which to build over the next three seasons.  Lineman mvp- Landon suttle , 2028 OL, Mt holly, nc The metro Charlotte native Landon Suttle played the entire game at both offensive and defensive line.  He had a strong base on offense, using his length and 6’3 frame to push defenders wide giving Grigsby the needed time to throw for over 300 yards. As a left tackle prospect, he shows the ability based on the athleticism we saw to move inside if he has too.  He’s already a recruitable size with room to grow. Standouts that didn't earn mvp honors Justin Harris of Shiloh, may end up being the best player in the game down the line. Peyton Grigsby gave me Manziel vibes Jack Crifasi IV was fast and made a big play. Played well at DB also. #51 Kayden Johnson 2028 played well on both OL & DL turn on the tape: #TurnONTheTape #TurnONTheTape look at this absolutely 🎯 by 2028 QB Peyton Grigsby from West Virginia in our @FootballHotbed Freshman All-American game breaking through triple coverage. Grigsby was also a @Future4QB finalist last June. #PutHimONTheBoard @grigsby_peyton7 pic.twitter.com/WTtLCR0Urd— Brandon Odoi (@Brandon_Odoi) February 6, 2025 #TurnONTheTape for Jarmell Sine of Boynton Beach, FL. He's a 6'2 WR in the 2028 class. Made an absolutely fabulous catch during our @FootballHotbed freshman game. See it below. @Offdata_mel #hotbedworld pic.twitter.com/9AxXqiYnQp— Brandon Odoi (@Brandon_Odoi) February 7, 2025 #TurnONTheTape watch 2028 @FootballHotbed Freshman All-American @RyanBrochu5 throw accurately under duress and hit his WR in stride for the TD. Just good ball all around. #hotbedworld pic.twitter.com/L3Otwdf9YG— Brandon Odoi (@Brandon_Odoi) February 6, 2025 watch: Full game on youtube

Follow Duluth, GA– In the coldest game ever played (28 degrees at its conclusion) in Football Hotbed National Showcase history, Team Read, paced by the outstanding performance by 2025 TE Matis Gibson, won a defensive battle 14-6 over Team White in our fifth annual Senior Bowl presented by the Portal Media Group.  The game’s scoring began when RL Ward, III, intercepted a Deron Benson pass and took it 35 yards for a pick-six.  The extra point attempt failed putting Team Red up 6-0.  After several stalled drives, punts and interceptions, both teams failed to move the ball much.  Team White did have great success on the ground running behind Frank Vomero, Jr. who racked up 110 yards on the ground in an losing effort. However, penalties and an inability to convert on third downs led to no points. The Red team found the most success through the air.  Miami’s Gabriel Fraga hooked up with Gibson to the tune of 109 yards in the air and a touchdown.  Gibson, a former quarterback, also attempted a pass on offense.Walking away with his first MVP award in three tries, Gibson put together his best performance in three outings at the Football Hotbed National High School Showcases.  He played H-back as a sophomore, quarterback as a junior last year and starred as a senior.  He currently holds three offers.The lineman MVP of the game award went to Ocala, Florida’s Bernard Little. He provided consistent pressure for Red’s dominant defense that didn’t surrender a point until seven seconds left in the game. The defensive MVP award went to Jonesboro, Georgia’s Jayden Howard who had two interceptions on the night in a losing effort.  Each Football Hotbed Senior Bowl MVP received a brand-new HP Google Chromebook for use in college and beyond.   watch a replay of the game via youtube