I always get excited when I see a group of athletes from St. Louis travel out of town for some kind of national competition and make the city proud with a stellar performance.
Such was the case last weekend when a talented group of football players from the STL ventured down South into football country and brought home a championship trophy from a high-profile tournament.
Representing the Explosion Sports Flight Academy, the St. Louis team won the Pylon 7-on-7 Southeast Regional championship in Nashville, Tennessee. Some of the best high school football talent in the country was on hand for this tournament, but the Explosion Sports Alpha team emerged from the pack with a perfect 7-0 record. They defeated the Chicago Boom 25-20 in the championship game.
On their way to the regional title, St. Louis defeated Chicago Boom, Epic 7 Southeast (Atlanta) and Southern Express (AL) in pool play. In the championship round, they defeated another St. Louis team Explosion Sports (Charlie), Epic 74PL (Atlanta) and 412 Elite (Pittsburgh) before defeating Chicago Boom in a rematch for the championship.
“Our team is pretty young, so for us to go down and win the Southeast regional against teams with kids who have offers from programs such as Alabama, Georgia, Texas and Florida kind of puts St. Louis on the map,” said Greg Wayne, owner of Explosion Sports Flight Academy. “The talent level there was phenomenal. It was a great opportunity for our kids to get a lot of national exposure because all of the media outlets were there.”
By winning the Southeast regional, Explosion Sports Alpha qualified for the Pylon National Champions, which will be held during the Fourth of July weekend in Dallas at the Cowboys Stadium. Explosion Sports will be one of only 10 regional champions who will be in Dallas in July.
Several of these young men have already achieved at a very high level in St. Louis football circles as state champions, All-State and All-Metro performers. Some have already earned Division I scholarship offers while others are well on their way to being highly recruited prospects.
Quarterback Tyler Foote of Class 3 state champion John Burroughs and wide receiver Kamryn Babb of Class 6 state runners-up CBC took home Most Valuable Player honors for their stellar performances throughout the weekend.
Joining Foote and Babb on the championship team were Andrew Clair (SLUH), Dallas Craddieth (Hazelwood Central), Dyllan Conway (Westminster), Gavon Burks (CBC), Ivan Burnett (Kirkwood), James Richardson (McCluer North), Justin Williams (CBC), Antonio Phillips (Kirkwood), Antonio Cunningham (Gateway STEM), James Whitfield Jr. (Hazelwood Central), John White (McCluer North), Justin White (Clayton), Cameron Brown (CBC), Xavier Jackson (Marquette) and Jordan Sommerville (Lutheran North).
The coaching staff consists of Trevor Gaylor, Allen Eberhard, Corey Bethany, Gary Johnson and Tim Bay.
Congratulations, young men, on a job well done.
