Predicting Every Team’s 2023 MVP: Region V-5A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With SCHSL football spread over five classifications and 36 regions, the talent pool in South Carolina is as vast as it is diverse.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're going to tackle it unlike ever before.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Prep Red Zone South Carolina team is going to predict every team's MVP for the 2023 football season. Over the next several weeks, you're going to be able to read about which player is leading the way for his team. We'll even give you a whole bunch of highlight films to back up our predictions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Are you ready?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>REGION V-5A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Carolina Forest Panthers</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='272722' first='Zion' last='Gilbert'] RB - Nearly every school in the state would love to have a tailback like Gilbert. He's big and fast, and he's shown flashes being of a top-end running running back competing for playing time at the next level. What's more, the Panther offense is so dedicated to spreading carries around that Gilbert's ability to produce late in the season will be more likely, too. He'll have every opportunity to add to his list of 200-yard games and could easily finish with at least 1,200 yards on the ground overall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Conway Tigers</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='208332' first='Devin' last='Grainger'] QB - Over the course of the last two years, Grainger has shown growth, even at times when the rest of Conway seemed relatively stagnant. He's put up 3,400 total yards and 24 touchdowns. New coach Josh Pierce was more than ready to wrap this offense around QB1 on day one. Now factor in that Grainger has spent the past six months preparing himself physically and mentally, and you've got a recipe for one heck of a final high school season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Socastee Braves</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='771237' first='Quadir' last='Scott'] WR - The Braves' offense went into triage mode very early in 2022 when quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='139313' first='Rocco' last='Wojcik'] went down with a broken collarbone and Scott had to move into the backfield. He threw for 923 yards, rushed for another 743. But his bigger impact was that he had a hand in 21 of the team's 26 offensive touchdowns on the year. Pretty important, huh? Now, Scott is going back to where he can dominate, and the Braves will be better off because of it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>St. James Sharks</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='91513' first='Connor' last='Schwalm'] QB - Schwalm's first year as the Sharks' starting quarterback proved just how valuable he is to this team. He threw for 1,481 yards and 11 touchdowns and also led St. James with 444 rushing yards and another eight touchdowns on the ground. Built like a full back and tough enough to sustain plenty of contact, Schwalm (pictured) going to get every opportunity to lead Tommy Norwood's team back to the playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Sumter Gamecocks</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='997137' first='Bryson' last='Cuffie']</strong> LB - Sumter has flat-out dominated this region, and the reason for it is clear. The Gamecocks' defense has been stout. They will be again in 2023. While players like [player_tooltip player_id='595702' first='Anthony' last='Addison'] provide some flair, Cuffie is the type of every-down linebacker who is going to pile up tackles and make opposing offense's game planning that much more difficult. Last year, he put up 62.5 total stops, 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. All of those figures will increase next time around.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15196770/6367b743da515c0c204b8e58' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64665ca16af0b"} /-->