A Tri-State University football recruit was named most valuable player in the North-South All-Star Classic football game at Carmel High School in Indianapolis July 15. South Newton quarterback Eric Watt is expected to compete for a starting position as the Thunder’s quarterback this fall, said assistant football coach Jake Kinsey.

Watt was named the game’s MVP after throwing one touchdown pass in the third quarter and setting up another. He completed five of 10 passes for 41 yards and rushed eight times for 24 yards, according to the Associated Press. Watt helped the North triumph over the South by a score of 20-7.

The North-South game pitted the state’s best players against each other. “All coaches selected players in their region. He was selected, and the north team plays the south team,” Kinsey  said. The game placed the TSU recruit in competition with gridders recruited by strong football programs such as those of Virginia Tech and Ohio State, he said.

The MVP honor benefits TSU twofold. “For us it’s a good recruiting tool and gets our name out to the whole state of Indiana, that a kid of his caliber is coming to TSU,” Kinsey said. “We were also in need of some good quarterback play, and he’s a kid who could come in and compete for a starting position.”