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.
Coach Tim McFarlin gives opening speech for Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Georgia Tech 7 on 7 Classic. Stay tuned for action through the day pic.twitter.com/XMOg2jVC11
— Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic (@CorkyKell) June 4, 2024
Georgia Tech freshman QB Aaron Philo with coach Jess Simpson working the 7-on-7 action at Bobby Dodd. These two guys know about winning GHSA State Titles. Philo’s alma mater @PACSWolverines will be playing West Forsyth this year in the @CorkyKell Classic! pic.twitter.com/ybgk1YqbhV
— SCORE Atlanta (@scoreatlanta) June 4, 2024
Kell DB Tony Forney with a nice interception in their 33-8 win early today against Stockbridge @Kell_Football @jdwyer_sr12 pic.twitter.com/czwg41JA53
— Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic (@CorkyKell) June 4, 2024
Here are the Elimination Brackets for all three locations! Been a great day so far and we will update the brackets after the games! pic.twitter.com/OkjQKKT7qb
— Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic (@CorkyKell) June 4, 2024
It’s day 1 for the @CorkyKell 7 on 7 at @GeorgiaTech . 24 school represented today ..Great competition .. pic.twitter.com/maoTkpDuiA
— samuel crenshaw (@samcrenshaw23) June 4, 2024
Game-winning play to help Hampton advance to Bobby Dodd after a 25-18 win against Mundy’s Mill @HamptonFBall
See the full scores from pool play, the elimination brackets and the championship bracket below.
Championship Bracket at Bobby Dodd
Championship
#4 North Gwinnett 27, #5 Kell 21 OT
Second Round
#4 North Gwinnett 22, #1 Hampton 2
#5 Kell 32, #2 Woodruff 6
First Round
#4 North Gwinnett 26, #6 Stockbridge 2
#5 Kell 28, #3 North Forsyth 25
Bobby Dodd
Afternoon Bracket Play
To Bobby Dodd for championship — Hampton, Kell
Second Round
#1 Hampton 19, #4 Temple 13
#3 Kell 19, #2 Rabun Gap 16
First Round
#1 Hampton 25, #8 Mundy’s Mill 18
#4 Temple 20, #5 Aquinas 18
#3 Kell 19, #6 Southwest DeKalb 11
#2 Rabun Gap 31, #7 McDonough 6Brock Indoor
Afternoon Bracket Play
To Bobby Dodd for championship — Woodruff, North Gwinnett
Second Round
#1 Woodruff 33, #5 Meadowcreek 8
#2 North Gwinnett 24, #3 McIntosh 22
First Round
#1 Woodruff 27, #8 Greenville 2
#5 Meadowcreek 33, #4 North Hall 27 OT
#3 McIntosh 27, #6 Christian Heritage 14
#2 North Gwinnett BYERose Bowl
Afternoon Bracket Play
To Bobby Dodd for championship — Stockbridge, Union Grove
Second Round
#4 Stockbridge 22, #1 Santaluces 19
#2 North Forsyth 24, #3 Union Grove 15
First Round
#1 Santaluces 40, #8 Trinity Christian 0
#4 Stockbridge 35, #5 Shiloh 24
#3 Union Grove 20, #6 Gordon Central 5
#2 North Forsyth 34, #7 East Hall 6Bobby Dodd
Morning Pool Play
Union Grove 32, Bethesda 6
Temple 30, Northview 2
North Forsyth 15, Northview 6
Hampton 18, Gordon Central 11
Hampton 34, Bethesda 7
Temple 24, North Hall 16
Hampton 26, Temple 9
Union Grove 21, Gordon Central 12
North Forsyth 25, North Hall 15
Santaluces 39, Trinity Christian 14
North Hall 32, Northview 6
Gordon Central 22, Bethesda 19
North Forsyth 27, Temple 0
Hampton 26, Union Grove 16
Bethesda 28, Northview 2
Union Grove 16, North Forsyth 16
North Hall 17, Gordon Central 15
Brock Indoor
Morning Pool Play
Kell 33, Stockbridge 8
Kell 32, Southwest DeKalb 22
Kell 31, Trinity Christian 16
Woodruff 27, McDonough 14
Trinity Christian 21, Mundy’s Mill 14
Santaluces 25, Southwest DeKalb 22
Christian Heritage 24, Mundy’s Mill 16
Woodruff 32, Trinity Christian 2
Stockbridge 28, McDonough 3
Woodruff 22, Christian Heritage 18
Christian Heritage 23, Southwest DeKalb 21
Southwest DeKalb 21, McDonough 19
McDonough 15, Mundy’s Mill 14
Santaluces 22, Stockbridge 13
Woodruff 26, Mundy’s Mill 16
Stockbridge 30, Christian Heritage 12
Santaluces 29, Kell 23
Mundy’s Mill 33, Northview 8
Rose Bowl
Morning Pool Play
Aquinas 29, Meadowcreek 19
McIntosh 23, Shiloh 16
Meadowcreek 34, Troup 9
North Gwinnett 24, Rabun Gap 15
Aquinas 37, East Hall 12
Rabun Gap 30, McIntosh 13
Shiloh 24, Greenville 23
McIntosh 25, Troup 13
Greenville 23, East Hall 17
North Gwinnett 34, Troup 2
North Gwinnett 27, Shiloh 19
McIntosh 21, North Gwinnett 18
Troup 32, East Hall 6
Meadowcreek 23, Greenville 15
Rabun Gap 16, Aquinas 14
Shiloh 29, Aquinas 28
East Hall 36, Meadowcreek 12
Rabun Gap 42, Greenville 18
