Carolina Panthers 7 on 7 High School Football Tournament from Tuesday

I’m pretty sure that Northern Guilford traveled to be in this one and it looks like there were some fairly big name schools there and the Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton was sure there and talking to the players and he is very passionate about 7 on 7 football and he put it on the line, in his talk with the players gathered at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, on Tuesday…Davidson Day, a private school with the Grier kid one of the best QB’s in the state, came out on top, as they topped Mallard Creek in the final game….

Read here, read on from www.panthers.com…..

“How can you be on the football field and not be passionate?” Cam Newton told the teams, giving a pregame speech that would have made any coach proud. “That’s like going to the cafeteria and not eating. What are you going in there for? If you aren’t pumped to show out in front of your peers and your coaches, I don’t know what you came out here for.”

After addressing the players for about 10 minutes, Newton walked from game to game, offering inspiration to those taking part.

It certainly rubbed off on Davidson (N.C.) Day School, which captured the championship with a dramatic 28-24 victory over reigning champion Mallard Creek High School of Charlotte. Davidson Day will represent the Panthers in the NFL’s 2012 National 7-on-7 High School Player Development Tournament scheduled for July 12-15 in Indianapolis.

The Patriots, who won an independent schools state title in their first year of varsity competition in 2011, lost to Mallard Creek and Orangeburg-Wilkinson (S.C.) in round-robin play but still advanced to the eight-team tournament and avenged both losses while handing each opponent its lone loss.

In the title tilt, Mallard Creek took a 24-21 lead with an interception (interceptions count for three points) and could have salted away the victory with a touchdown. The Mavericks came up short, however, setting up Davidson Day quarterback Will Grier to find Michael Stevens for an 18-yard score as the horn sounded.

“Just like Cam said earlier, ‘You’ve got to trust your teammates,'” Grier said. “I trusted my defense to get a stop, and they gave us a chance to do what we did.”

Davidson Day coach Chad Grier – the quarterback’s father – said his players were surprised by Newton’s appearance.

“When he showed up, you just saw all the kids’ backs straighten up, and you saw a lot of big smiles and big eyes,” Coach Grier said. “He’s such a charismatic, dynamic personality, and obviously a terrific player.”

Read more by going to www.panthers.com….