Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl South Roster Notes

Ian Guerin October 19, 2021 @ 08:00 AM

On Monday, the rosters for the Touchstone Energy Cooperative Bowl were released. The 88 South Carolina seniors selected for the game were in many ways a hybrid of past years, when the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas had first choice. With that game cancelled, the Touchstone Energy Bowl coaches had the top picks for this year’s all-star game. It led to scores of talent between the two teams. This is some of what jumps off the roster for the South squad nearly two months before the December 11th game takes place. RECEIVERS, RECEIVERS, RECEIVERS [player_tooltip player_id="59464" first="Adam" last="Randall"] (Myrtle Beach), [player_tooltip player_id="61070" first="Antonio" last="Williams"] (Dutch Fork), [player_tooltip player_id="91187" first="Kevin" last="Diggs"] (Chesterfield), [player_tooltip player_id="59482" first="Zavier" last="Short"] (Chapin), Skylar King (Brookland-Cayce) and [player_tooltip player_id="200731" first="Carlton" last="Terry"] (Conway) give South coach Art Craig what on the surface appears to be two hockey-style lines of top-end receivers. As of right now, at least three of those players (Randall, Williams and Short) are FBS locks, with Diggs, Terry and King not far off that pedestal. The South’s two primary quarterbacks, Myrtle Beach’s [player_tooltip player_id="59494" first="Ryan" last="Burger"] and May River’s Garvin Douglas, are going to have maybe the greatest collection of targets this game has ever seen, and, honestly, one that would rival many of the Shrine’s best years for the position. SIZE UP FRONT It’s clear Craig wanted to make sure his two quarterbacks were protected. [player_tooltip player_id="59477" first="Jayden" last="Johnson"] (Goose Creek) is 6-foot-5, 320 pounds. Green Sea Floyds’ [player_tooltip player_id="91194" first="Jesus" last="Gutierrez"] is 6-foot-4, 320 pounds. Oceanside Collegiate’s [player_tooltip player_id="59486" first="Jacob" last="Ashley"] is 6-foot-6, 320 pounds. Chapin’s [player_tooltip player_id="89304" first="Chase" last="Sweigart"] is 6-foot-6, 310 pounds. Whale Branch’s Xavier Chaplin is 6-foot-6, 355 pounds. Those dudes are so big that the likes of three teammates for the game - Lakewood’s Tre’ Croskey (6-4, 285), Berkeley’s Demarco Gadsden (6-1, 290) and River Bluff’s Levi Gould (6-2, 270) - look relatively small. Don’t ignore what having these types of bodies up front could mean for an offense that is going to be two-dimensional, thanks to running backs [player_tooltip player_id="61071" first="Demetri" last="Simmons"] (Goose Creek), [player_tooltip player_id="59479" first="Nemo" last="Squire"] (Dillon), Josh Shaw (Hanahan) and [player_tooltip player_id="89329" first="Luke" last="Janack"] (Carolina Forest). 843 STRONG? Craig’s staff chose seven defensive linemen for the game. Apparently he saw something he liked in a bunch of guys within a short drive of his home base at Hanahan. Fort Dorchester’s DJ Watson and [player_tooltip player_id="89313" first="Devin" last="Geddis"], Beaufort’s [player_tooltip player_id="200665" first="Alvin" last="Wilson"], Summerville’s [player_tooltip player_id="89320" first="Carnell" last="Jones"], Ashley Ridge’s Nick Downing and Lake City’s Ja’Maurion Franklin all reside within the 843 area code. Only Crestwood’s Jamori Coard lives in an area represented by a different area code, and it’s just a few miles into that zone. Clearly, he wanted that part of his roster to be highly familiar with one another. EDITOR’S NOTE: Prep Red Zone South Carolina scout Ian Guerin serves as the media director for the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl. However, he had no role in choosing players or alternates for either roster.