North Gwinnett wins opening day title at Brent Key/Corky Kell + Dave Hunter 7-on-7

Corky Kell 7-on-7, Corky Kell Classic, Football, High School | June 4, 2024 by | Comments Off

The opening day of the Brent Key/Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic 7-on-7 Tournament featured some of the best players in the state showcasing talents at three locations across Georgia Tech’s campus — Brock Indoor, Rose Bowl and historic Bobby Dodd Stadium.

And after a grueling day consisting of pool play, a single-elimination bracket and the championship bracket, North Gwinnett secured a come-from-behind overtime 27-21 victory against Kell to win the first day’s championship.

A touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Elam Rahman to wide receiver Nicholas Bookman proved the deciding play for the Bulldogs.

“It’s a great way to kick off our summer,” said North Gwinnett head coach Eric Godfree. “Georgia Tech just does such a good job with this and of course, the Corky Kell. And that was a fun overtime game right there.”

North Gwinnett went 3-1 in pool play with victories over Rabun Gap 24-15, Troup 34-2 and Shiloh 27-19 with a loss to McIntosh 21-18 on a last-second defensive stop. Once in the single-elimination bracket, the Bulldogs enjoyed a BYE in the first round before beating McIntosh 24-22 to advance to the championship bracket. North Gwinnett defeated Stockbridge 26-2 in the first round and secure a championship berth with a 22-2 victory over Hampton.

Kell also was 3-1 in pool play after a 33-8 victory over Stockbridge, a 32-22 victory over Southwest DeKalb, a 31-16 victory over Trinity Christian and a 29-23 loss to Florida’s Santaluces. In the elimination bracket, Kell beat Southwest DeKalb 19-11 and Rabun Gap 19-16 to advance to the championship bracket. The Longhorns defeated North Forsyth 28-25 and Woodruff 32-6 to earn the championship berth.

“Proud of our kids coming out and competing,” Godfree said. “Kell, that’s a great football team. Coach (Bobby) May does a great job.”

The victory capped the first marathon day of the four-day 7-on-7 which began at 9:30 a.m. with pool play before each of the bracket rounds. It’s the kind of all-day grind which can interrupt a team’s focus, especially days into practice. But for North Gwinnett, Godfree felt good about what he saw from his team.

“We adjusted off the fly,” Godfree said. “This is day two for us. As far as Summer time. We came off Spring practice and yesterday is the first day of actual Summer practice for us. So being able to adjust and be coachable on the run means a lot for our kids. This is good confidence. It helps us with route running, we will get back and look and see what we did wrong and got exposed on. The secondaries, as far as coverage and good eyes. It really provides a lot of great things.”

Follow the link for the full four-day schedule, check out Score Atlanta or Corky Kell on Twitter (X) for updates or see more day one updates below.

 

 

 

 

 

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