Midlands Seniors Stand Out In Shrine Combine

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CAYCE |</strong> The 2023 Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas is less than 150 days away.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For South Carolina Sandlappers' head coach Wayne Farmer of Calhoun County, his coaching staff will spend the next four months as engaged on that roster as their respective teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From watching game films to weekly meetings to going over individual player evaluations, Farmer knows the task of picking 44 players out of the 120 invited to the combine (five players were absent) is not easy.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“The biggest thing today was not doing combine stuff,” he said. “We tried to just looking for position specific because we already know what they do through the combines and watching film. I thought they were very successful. We've got a lot of good looks at a lot of good people. I thought going to…position specific and getting those one-on-ones, we got a lot of work done.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Farmer acknowledged the coaches have a good idea on at least 35 players for the Shrine Bowl. As difficult as the selection of those players will be, picking the final nine or 10 players will be an even bigger challenge.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Several Midlands players used the opportunity to keep themselves in the running for consideration.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Airport offensive lineman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='771066' first='Dylan' last='Barbrey']</strong>, who's graduating in December and committed to Appalachian State, saw the combine as an opportunity to “get better, meet friends and play football”.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“It would mean a lot,” said Barbrey of making the Shrine Bowl. “It's a big, big deal. It would mean a lot to me.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The offensive line position is competitive with top prospect <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139286' first='Kam' last='Pringle'] </strong>of Woodland (who did not attend due to injury) and all-state senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='771036' first='Dakarai' last='Sumter']</strong> of Lower Richland on the list. Coaches also praised the effort of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='771236' first='Mark'Quelle' last='Moser']</strong>, a 6-foot-4, 365-pound tackle from Richland Northeast.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lexington High School had three of its top players at the combine. Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='208887' first='Taiden' last='Mines']</strong>, LB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='448988' first='Christian' last='Sexton'] </strong>and tight end <strong>Cam Sutton</strong> all play at positions with higher profile players.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They took the opportunity more to measure themselves more against other in-state players.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I'm happy with my performance,” Sutton said. “I think I got out there, showed what I could do. Overall, I'm happy with it.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Just seeing where I'm ranked against other people in the area and meeting new people is probably one of the best things,” Mines said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Just playing against some of the best guys in the state for the biggest game of the year,” Sexton said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outside linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='911089' first='Jaiden' last='Kimble']</strong> of White Knoll continued to catch the eye of coaches during the off-season. His goal going into the season is to avoid injury and to stay on the field as it works for an all-star spot.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:gallery {"linkTo":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped"></figure> <!-- /wp:gallery --> <!-- wp:html /--> <!-- wp:html /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64b75a46dacd1"} /--> <!-- wp:embed /-->