Grand Strand specialists exceeding expectations

Just 18 miles apart along South Carolina’s Grand Strand, two of the state’s top senior specialists are within striking distance of the next phase of their football careers. North Myrtle Beach’s [player_tooltip player_id="59360" first="Zane" last="Smith"] and Myrtle Beach’s Sullivan Hardin have kicked field goals and extra points, punted and handled kickoff duties for their respective teams. And their proficiency in all three phases the foot-to-leather portion of the game makes college football appear likely, if not inevitable. The fact that the two play for Region VI-4A rivals and have their own friendly rivalry? That’s not hurting their development, either. “It pushes me to work a lot harder,” said Hardin, the No. 74 senior in South Carolina. “At the end of the day, we’re trying to do the same thing. But knowing that there is someone who a coach could pick over me, it makes me strive to be perfect.” Said Smith: "When we go work together at Doug Shaw or North Myrtle Beach, it pushes me to be better in games. It keeps you on edge.” While the two seniors have been on the varsity playing fields for three seasons, they are certainly feeling a sense of recruiting urgency now. Smith’s lone offer is a walk-on spot at Virginia Tech, while Hardin hasn’t yet bridged the gap of informational conversations with college coaches. Any of that could change at a moment’s notice, of course. However, both also feel like they’ve done enough to warrant more attention. “Just like everything else, that goes into the mental aspect of the position,” said Smith, No. 78 among the state's seniors. “Everyone thinks it’s fun to be a kicker or punter. But you’re by yourself most of the time. It takes a lot of personal motivation to stay on top of what you need to do every day. It can be frustrating at times, being so secluded at some points. I do think the mental aspect of everything can be a lot at times.” That hasn’t stopped either from continuing their stellar prep careers. Smith and Hardin have been either first or second on their scoring over the course of the last two seasons. Through the first three games this season, Smith was perfect on PATs (15-of-15) and connected on a pair of field goals (two others were blocked). He had 14 touchbacks on 20 kickoffs while averaging 39.5 yards per punt. Last fall, he hit 29-of-31 extra points and seven field goals and averaged 41.5 yards on his 53 punts.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Hardin connected on 20-of-23 PATs and hit his lone field goal attempt from 32 yards in the early going of 2020. He’s also averaged 38 yards on his rare punt opportunities and booted 17 of his 27 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks despite dealing with a minor issue in his plant foot after a teammate stepped on it during a practice. During his junior season, he was 72-of-73 on extra points, hit seven field goals and finished with 93 points to go along with 89 touchbacks on 101 kickoffs. Point being, the film is already there for recruiters. Some of the delay in offers is position-based. More of it may be attributed to the COVID-19 lockdowns that eliminated offseason camps and meet-and-greets. That hasn’t stopped Hardin and Smith from exceeding expectations at arguably the game’s least sexy position.