On June 8th, Gridiron Football showcased more of its national brand by putting on its first ever Elite Camp in the state of Florida by taking a trip over to Pensacola Beach, holding the camp at Gulf Breeze High School. After a successful camp in Texas, Gridiron Football got to see what talent west Florida had to offer, and it did not disappoint.
A total of 44 players came out on that hot Saturday afternoon to get to work. The day began with the usual talk from Gridiron Football CEO Andy Bryson, who gave his tips to the high schoolers for what colleges are looking for.
After that, the camp immediately went into the combine, where the players got to get their 40 yard dash, 3 cone shuttle, and broad jumps measured.
Three players were able to get into the 4.5s with their 40 times at the camp. This was led by Gulf Breeze 2025 WR Jake Hooten, who ran a 4.53. Not far behind him was Navarre 2027 CB/WR Ezekiel Burgess, who ran a 4.53, and Gulf Breeze OLB Jaxson Rich.
The broad jump had only one player surpass the 9 foot threshold, and that was Gulf Breeze 2027 WR DJ Spence, who jumped 9’2. However, a few other players came close, with Gulf Breeze 2025 CB Elijah Wardwell jumping 8’10 and Ezekiel Burgess continuing his strong combine with a respectable 8’9.
The real highlight of the combine, however, was in the 3 cone shuttle. An unbelievable eight people ran a shuttle in the 4.3s or better, and it was headlined by two familiar names: Jake Hooten and Ezekiel Burgess, the two best 40 runners at the camp. Hooten ran a 4.14 and Burgess ran a 4.17, which are the two best shuttle times of not just this camp, but of any camp in the entire Elite Camp series for Gridiron Football this year. The six other runners included Gulf Breeze 27 QB Jayce Smith (4.24), Gulf Breeze 27 RB Ethan Crandall (4.26), Jaxson Rich (4.26), Gulf Breeze 26 WR Troy Matlock (4.27), Gulf Breeze 28 QB Mason Hinson (4.27), and finally Elijah Wardwell (4.32).
After an individual drills session where the players of different positions got to work with coaches for a time, the players got to compete against each other to finish the camp. All skill position players got to work against each other in 1 on 1s and 7 on 7s while the linemen got to compete in 1v1s and 2v1, as well as the Tire Pull.
There were a lot of quarterbacks at the camp, but the headliner was Gulf Breeze 25 QB Brock Stomps, who showcased his abilities in person and lived up to the lofty expectations of him going into the camp. In the 7 on 7s, he was able to lead a drive, completing passes to Ethan Crandall and Jake Hooten in the process. Stomps’ poise and decision making process showed itself during the reps he got in these drills, but he wasn’t the only passer to show his skills. Gulf Breeze 26 QB Cain Baker made his presence felt as well, especially with his impressive arm strength.
The pass catchers also showed their skills during these drills. The aforementioned Ethan Crandall and Jake Hooten made a number of great catches, being the two big standouts of those who primarily played WR today. However, the most impressive catch actually came from one of the defensive backs, taking a rare rep at receiver for the day. Combine standout Ezekiel Burgess showed impressive ball tracking abilities and came down with a very impressive catch with his outstretched arms on the sideline early in the 1 on 1 drills.
Burgess was everywhere today, seemingly getting in the way of every pass when he was making the majority of his reps at CB. He got a lot of reps against a lot of opponents and was sticking like glue throughout most of the day, making it incredibly difficult for the offenses to function. He was absolutely the standout defensive back of the day.
Over on the linemen side of things, everything revolved around Gulf Breeze 26 DL Hunter Duncan. He crushed the 1 on 1s, was constantly splitting double teams in the 2 on 1s, and as the drills went on, every other lineman at the camp wanted a piece of him.
That being said, some people were up to the task. Gulf Breeze 26 OL Jayden Gomes battled with Duncan the whole day and got his fair share of wins against him, being seen throughout the camp as the main resistance that could be put up against Duncan’s domination. Fellow Gulf Breeze 26 OL Cole Likes also put up some good reps against Duncan in the 1 on 1s, but he proved to be practically unstoppable in the Tire Pull. Unless he slipped, absolutely nobody stood a chance against his insurmountable strength.
At the end of the camp, Andy Bryson and the other coaches decided to give out the awards for the standouts. Those people were: Gulf Breeze High School 2025 WR Jake Hooten, Gulf Breeze High School 2025 QB Brock Stomps, Gulf Breeze High School 2026 LB Noah Perez, Navarre 2027 CB/WR Ezekiel Burgess, Gulf Breeze 26 OL Jayden Gomes, Gulf Breeze 26 DL Hunter Duncan, and Gulf Breeze 27 RB Ethan Crandall.
After the successful camp in Texas earlier in the spring, this proved to be a successful second step in the expanding of Gridiron Football’s brand. Gridiron Football COO and QB coach for the camp Marcus Randall spoke about this after the fact.
“The camp in Gulf Breeze is really good for Gridiron to go out there to Florida, to do a camp, and to make our presence felt there. Some players in the past have come to us from there, but for us to go out there and do a camp while out there is going to do a lot for the branding for us down in that area. I want to thank Coach Stomps for having things laid out for us and having his coaches to help us run it.”
Marcus Randall
Everyone here at Gridiron Football would like to echo that thank you to Coach Jim Stomps at Gulf Breeze High School for hosting this event.
We will also have a writeup coming up about our final offseason camp at St. Edmund High School in Eunice, Louisiana. Make sure to check our website to stay up to date on any future events!
Watch all of the competition at our camp below!
Camp Videos:
Camp Interviews:
Check out the photos taken at the camp!
