Blue-Grey All-American Bowl: West 27, East 24

UCLA commit Austin Burton, Southern Utah commit Jordan Walker, Alabama commit Kedrick James and Arizona State commit Anthony Dicastro (left to right) were among the prospects to participate in the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl at Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.

Similar to year’s past, many of the country’s more high-profile prospects were in recently action at the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl. This time around, it was the Class of 2017 version and West defeated East, 27-24, on Dec. 22 at Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.

Iowa commit Peyton Mansell, Texas Tech commit Xavier Martin, North Carolina commit Beau Corrales, Vanderbilt commit McLane Mannix and Air Force commit David Cormier were among many marquee skill position players on the offensive side of the ball for the West.

Northern Colorado commit Billy Reagins, North Dakota commit Mikey Griebel and Big 12 Conference target Kaylon Geiger benefited from having the likes of North Texas commit Dakoda Newman and Pac-12 Conference target Johnathan Nathaniel up front for the West.

There was no shortage of talent for the East as UCLA commit Austin Burton and Illinois State commit Trenton Hatfield ran the show on offense and had plenty of help from the likes of Alabama commit Kedrick James and Big 10 Conference target Terence Dunlap, among other well-known names.

Along the offensive line for the East, Tennessee commit Riley Locklear, Penn State commit Robert Martin, Pitt commit Owen Drexel and Georgia Southern commit Pat Bartlett were rather difficult to deal with, as one could imagine given the group’s collective resume.

Defensively, for both teams, many players stood out in the crowd, including Big 12 Conference target Evan Fields, Oklahoma State commit Kris McCune, Kansas State commit Anthony Payne, West Virginia commit Exree Loe and Illinois State commit Eric Scott.

The well-known names lived up to the hype, as expected. After all, the scene was set for recruits to shine bright. And many of them did just that. Dunlap was named Offensive MVP with 176 all-purpose yards. McCune was named Defensive MVP with eight tackles.

Once everyone recently arrived in the Lone Star State, the country’s best had an opportunity to work with the brand’s staff of NFL veterans, now turned coaches for the All-American Bowl, including the West’s Mark McMillian, formerly of the Eagles and Chiefs.

His assistants included one-time professional peers George Martinez (Raiders and Cardinals), Ernest Jones (Broncos and Panthers), J.J. McCleskey (Cardinals and Saints), Larry Centers (Cardinals), Byron Evans (Eagles) and Reggie Young (NFL veteran trainer).

Cowboys’ star George Teague led the East. His staff included Ken Stills (Packers), Ray Crockett (Broncos), Michael Myers (Cowboys), Margin Hooks (Buccaneers), J’Vonne Parker (Browns), Sameeh McDonald (Lions) and Rodney Beasley (NFL veteran trainer).