Week 1 Grand Strand & Pee Dee Defensive Players To Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A matter of days into the 2022 regular season, we're already starting to see all the positive energy devoted to offensive players from the camp and 7-on-7 circuits starting to level back out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Some defensive standouts are ready to take what's theirs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From the coast over to the Pee Dee, several players on that side of the ball have all the right ingredients to put up big nights that change the dynamic of a game in a big way. Start with these five.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Arber Lekani</strong>, LB, Socastee</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You better believe that one of Lekani's main jobs this week will be to keep an eye on Silver Bluff quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='91161' first='Maleik' last='Williams']. The shifty quarterback is his team's top offensive weapon right now as the Bulldogs go through their adjustment window. And with the Socastee middle linebacker coming off a 6.5 tackles/2 TFL game against a North Myrtle Beach team with a less mobile quarterback than Williams, Lekani's THE player to watch in this game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Da'Shun Scott</strong>, LB, West Florence</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Scott definitely showed out last week against Lexington, finishing with eight total tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in the 31-28 win. With no offense to Lake City, the size and speed differential is going to slow down the game considerably this week. Scott is a 6-foot-2 linebacker who can see over the top of a line that isn't enormous. Those lines of sight could be big in terms of production.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cameron Alston</strong>, DB, Conway</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To say we're a tad excited bout Alston's return after months on the shelf recovering from ACL surgery is an understatement. This is a player who has top-level college ball written all over him. He's tall and loves contact and reads the eyes of quarterbacks extremely well. His first action of the season will be emotionally charged; he's a true Conway kid, playing in his only Victory Bell rivalry game against Myrtle Beach.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='336149' first='Mike' last='Gillard']</strong>, DB, Myrtle Beach</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Yes, Gillard and Alston are both safeties. And, yes, we like them both in the same game playing for opposite teams. Gillard (pictured) was all over the place in the blowout loss to Camden last week. He had six solo tackles (and another two assisted stops), two forced fumbles and a recovery. That was against a team that's going to compete for a Class 3A state title and is pretty much massive. Gillard could definitely be a problem for a lot of folks the rest of the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='336122' first='CJ' last='Cox']</strong>, DL, Loris</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After 8.5 tackles and a couple for loss in the season opener against Green Sea Floyds, Cox proved his monster 2021 season wasn't some fluke. This guy has got the type of motor to navigate what is going to be a bigger offensive line from North Myrtle Beach. He floats a good bit, looking for seams, and while the Chiefs are better than most probably expected, so, too, is the shifty defensive lineman.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->