Cody Cameron
Heading to Flagstaff while the Valley cooks up to 110-degrees always makes for a nice trip in the summer months. That’s exactly what a handful of schools did this weekend as NAU Football hosted their first 7-on-7 and Big Man tournament of the Summer. Here’s some of my takeaways from the event.
Perry Pumas
The Pumas were crowned champions of the 7’s portion as they went a perfect 7-0 in both pool and bracket play. Perry also won the University of Arizona 7’s tournament earlier in the week down in Tucson. Class of 2028 WR Amos Augustine looks to be as good as any WR in the state currently. The 6’2 190-pound Junior shined during Perry’s CUSD Showcase back in May, and he’s carried that momentum into the Team 7’s circuit. He’s a very efficient separator out of his breaks and has incredible hands. He attacks the ball consistently at it’s highest point and looked uncoverable during this tournament. The most impressive player on the day was Senior WR Jaylen Singleton, who was named the offensive MVP of the tournament. He’s an explosive slot WR who gets DB’s on their heels quickly with a tremendous burst off the snap. He’s going to be a match up disaster next Fall for defensive players because of how shifty and fluid he is out of his brakes. Senior LB Ricky Packingham III won Defensive MVP and Senior QB and Boise State commit Kael Snyder, won tournament MVP. It’s June and a long way to go before the season starts, but I’ve seen Perry at a few events now this Spring/Summer and their team morale is high. Those players are having a blast out there. The new coaching staff is doing a great job.
Congrats to the @perrypumas for winning the @NAU_Football 7’s Tournament – DEF MVP @rickypackingham, OFF MVP @Jayway_11, Tournament MVP @Kael_Snyder12 @perry_pumas @CUSDAthletics @CoachHathcock pic.twitter.com/WX3U9MDESR
— Cody Cameron (@CodyTCameron) June 6, 2026
Chaparral Firebirds
Chap had a great showing this weekend as their BEEF conquered the Big Man challenge and were crowned champs of the tourney. I spoke to second year Head Coach Trace Carroll for awhile and he was really happy with the progress of his players in his first true offseason. Chaparral looks significantly bigger and faster this year, and the Firebirds have a ton of talent in their lower level classes. We’ve seen a wave of alums get hired as head coaches across the AZHSFB landscape over the last 5-6 years, and the Chap admin struck gold landing Chaparral alum Trace Carroll. That man cares so deeply about that program and his players, and it only reflects positively on the kids. He platooned quite a few players throughout the day, which showed depth that i haven’t seen Chap have in a few years. Class of 2029 QB Ryan Trocki came in halfway after traveling back from a visit to Notre Dame and immediately started to light it up. Fresh off his OV to Montana, 2027 RB Jayce Wilson looks as advertised as he gears up for a big senior season. I’m excited for Chaparral Football this Fall.
Chaparral Football highlights at the NAU 7’s tournament @ChapfootballAZ @Trace_Carroll Great showing from the Firebirds today finishing in the Top 4 for 7’s and winning the Big Man competition pic.twitter.com/8ntqicmKxD
— Cody Cameron (@CodyTCameron) June 7, 2026
Chaparral takes down Mountain Pointe in the tug of war competition at the NAU Big Man Camp.@ChapfootballAZ @Trace_Carroll pic.twitter.com/LNX2QvRHNe
— BJ Media (@BJMedia1) June 6, 2026
Bradshaw Mountain Bears
Bradshaw graduated a very good senior class, but the younger talent for the Bears was on full display on Saturday. Offensive Coordinator Robert Ortiz raved about Class of 2029 QB Taye Evans. The sophomore gun-slinger is physically built and has a cannon. As he continues to learn and get better under Ortiz’ guidance, this is a kid the state needs to know about. Class of 2027 RB/LB Jonte Jones is another player to keep an eye on in the 4A Grand Canyon Region. Big, physical RB who ran an 11.1 100-Meter on the track this year. His closing speed at LB was impressive during the tournament. Bradshaw’s defense was flying around the football and their secondary players were hip-to-hip with 6A WRs all day. Will be a fun team to watch this year.
Bradshaw Mountain FB Highlights at the NAU 7’s tournament – Secondary flying around the ball all right. Great man-to-man coverage in a few of these clips @FBCoachOrtiz pic.twitter.com/UQ9h2pl35k
— Cody Cameron (@CodyTCameron) June 7, 2026
Quick Hitters
Mountain View 2028 QB Brayden Merwin can sling it. Graduating a QB like Brady Goodman is never easy to replace, but Merwin shined on Saturday. With Andy Litten’s scheme and a core of solid WRs, Merwin is set to have a breakout season for the Toros.
I have already heard a few times this off season, “Liberty might be down this year,” which is just comical at this point. Ironically it might also be Colin Thomas’ favorite thing to hear. It’s easy to look at a Maxpreps roster and see the players who graduated off Liberty’s team last year, but Liberty brought two teams to NAU and their “B” team filled with Class of 2029 and 2030 players, still looked like a 6A team. Yes, the Lions might play more sophomores this season than they have in previous years, but those Sophomores would start on 99% of rosters across the AZHSFB landscape. Lions will not only be fine, their physically and how well that team is coached, will make them an easy pick to be a Top-4 team in the state this year (I know, huge shocker).
I maybe cover one or two 7’s tournaments a year, most know I’m not a huge fan of them, but I do enjoy the college hosted ones. The NAU staff does a tremendous job of in-state recruiting and also building relationships with the local high school coaches. That team deserves fans in seats and hopefully more people in the Valley come up this Fall to watch Big Sky Conference football. On a more personal level, I really enjoyed catching up with the high school coaches. Seeing Ryan Desrochers, Mike Sanchez, Robert Ortiz, Trace Carroll, Cody Bartz + many more, made my day. Arizona is incredibly lucky to have so many good football coaches. Do not run these people out parents, they are role models for your kids.
