Sun Valley QB Howell, Florida State commit, forms bond with Cam Newton

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Sam Howell, a rising senior at Sun Valley High School, who recently committed to play football at Florida State, said life's been a lot more relaxed since he committed.

The three-time Big 22 Player to Watch selection said he's able to focus on the upcoming season and his teammates.

He's also got Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton in his corner.

Howell played some with Newton's 7-on-7 travel team, and since then, they’ve become close.

"Cam's a great guy. He looks out for me,” said Howell, who is also a quarterback. “I talk to him all the time. He gives me advice on certain things. It's just awesome to be able to have a resource like that. I mean, he’s Cam Newton. He won the NFL MVP, so  I’m just honored to have the opportunity to be around him."

Howell and his Sun Valley teammates were one of 24 teams competing on the sixth-annual Cam Newton Foundation 7-on-7 Tournament held the past two days at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill.

Howell said he uses the tournament as a way to get on the same page before the regular season kicks off.

"We graduated a lot of seniors last year,” Howell said. “We have a lot of new receivers playing, so this is good for us to come out here and get some timing down. It's also good for our defense to be able to see another offense, so I mean, it's just making us better."

The 7-on-7 tournament consisted of high school football teams from North Carolina and South Carolina.

Newton was at Saturday’s final day of tournament play.

The first-place school earns a $2,500 donation to their football program from the Cam Newton Foundation, while second place gets $1,500 and third gets $1,000.

Cox Media Group