It was a great day for 7s at the Duel Out West, where 16 teams from a variety of levels competed at Cactus High School. In the championship, it was American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North, the 3A runner-up in 2020, playing Sandra Day O'Connor, which made the final four of the 6A playoffs.
ALA Gilbert North made some great plays on defense and ended up winning 27-14.
Here are some standouts from the entire tournament.
QB Adam Damante (ALA GN)
Did a great job playing with positive emotion all day and was really on his mark. Throws well on the run and was VERY consistent making the right reads.
TE/DE Merhauti Xepera (Higley)
As a tight end was a valuable weapon for Higley. Has the great hands and does a great job coming down with passes thrown his way.
LB Brandon Craddock (O’Connor)
Exhibited great leadership ability loved watching him communicate with his teammates fine tuning mistakes and making adjustments.
ATH Will Galvan (Cactus)
Pound-for-pound could be the best football player in the 4A. Showed good ability to make catches in traffic and always has good feet and balance.
ATH Carter Wojcik (Mesquite)
In the absence of Andrew Morris and working with a new quarterback, Wojcik played VERY well making catches and keeping drives going. Flipped and was a solid defender.
WR Jaxon Jones (Yuma Catholic)
Jones has a great frame and looks like about 6’3 200. Nice route runner that should catch a lot of TDs in that YC offense!!
WR Terryon Rowe (Mountain Pointe)
Even without his regular QB Rowe continues to show his ability to make plays. Also spent some time on defense and displayed good instincts.
ATH Jordan Lahusky (Thunderbird)
Lahusky did a great job playin WR and flipped and played DB. Did not come out and did a great job of getting open and creating separation with physical DBs.
DB Andy Ruiz (Coconino)
The talented DB was solid in matchups with the opponents best WR. Spent most of his time on the island. I think long term he’ll transition to Safety where he’ll really flourish.
Other notable standouts:
WR Brandon Phelps (ALA GN)
QB Jace Snyder (O’Connor)
ATH JoJo Lagafuaina (Cactus)
ATH Chris Thomas Jr (Cactus)
QB Reilly Garcia (Campo Verde)
DB Nijrell Eason (Higley)
WR Johnny Bellino (ALA GN)
ATH Devon Sparks (Mountain Pointe)
QB Gerardo Saenz (Mesquite)
QB Tyler Haynie (Ironwood Ridge)
ATH Jeadyn Winston (Mesquite)
DB Greg Shaw (Higley)
ATH Kyler Thurston (NWC)
QB Edison Martinez (Bourgade)
WR Armando Guzman (Sunnyside)
Disclaimer
I did not see Westview or North players enough to evaluate their athletes.
