Joanne Langfitt Challenge: The Award Winners
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MYRTLE BEACH | The third-annual Joanne Langfitt Challenge led us directly into a huge weekend in Myrtle Beach. With 137 of the top juniors, sophomores and freshmen in the state teamed up and playing in what amounts to a 7-on-7/combine/superlatives…
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Continue ReadingMYRTLE BEACH | The third-annual Joanne Langfitt Challenge led us directly into a huge weekend in Myrtle Beach.
With 137 of the top juniors, sophomores and freshmen in the state teamed up and playing in what amounts to a 7-on-7/combine/superlatives contest, the stakes were high heading into the offseason.
From the traditional events to the not-so-traditional, Doug Shaw Memorial Stadiums was the site where a bunch of athletes from the event bolster their stock well in advance of their senior seasons.
Here were Friday’s big winners.
Bench Press: Artem Kalinkin DL, Lexington
A year ago, with players still not sure what to expect from the Joanne Langfitt, the top rep number in the bench was 17 for most of the night. This time around, players weren’t messing around. Kalinken had the PA announcer singing with an eye-popping 36 reps of 225 pounds. It really was something that had everyone standing around oohing and aahing, as well.
Best Offensive Skill: Jamel Howse Jamel Howse 6'4" | 210 lbs | WR Newberry | 2026 State SC WR, Newberry
Howse is one of those freakish athletes that commands respect. During the 7-on-7 portion, for instance, opposing teams floated a safety over the top in an effort to slow him down. Why he won the award might have directly tied to how much he opened up his teammates. His quarterback (a guy listed at the bottom here) noted the attention Howse attracted and picked teams apart.
Best Offensive Combo: Jevon Edwards Jevon Edwards 5'9" | 195 lbs | RB South Aiken | 2025 State SC RB, South Aiken
It took all of three series for the staffs to notice how well Edwards moved out of the backfield into receiving position to earn him this nod. Edwards is a huge rushing threat (4,215 yards, 50 touchdowns in three seasons). But he’s also one of the state’s most consistent receiving threats running out of the backfield, too. He’s caught 26 passes for 322 yards in that time. On Friday, he consistently did damage running quick routes up the left side.
Best Offensive Line: Kevin Peay Kevin Peay 6'4" | 290 lbs | OL Lancaster | 2025 State SC Lancaster
Two months ago, nobody was mentioning Lancaster in a positive light after the team suffered through what ended up being a 1-9 regular season. But the Bruins made a run to the third round of the Class 4A playoffs and ended up becoming a media darling. Newsflash: Peay was a monster part of that success. While his 6-foot-4, 296-pound billing might be a bit off, there was no debate that he pulled every bit of his weight Friday in the linemen competitions.
Best Defensive Skill: Jeremiah Favorite Jeremiah Favorite 5'11" | 165 lbs | DB Boiling Springs | 2026 State SC DB, Boiling Springs
Favorite didn’t pull down the head cover he was wearing until he was made to for his congratulatory photo. Not exactly the norm for a defensive back, huh? The one-time Myrtle Beach Seahawk had continue to improve under the tutelage of Boiling Spring head coach Matt Reel in the last year. He’s a lock-down corner who showed Friday that he can slip to safety when necessary.
Best Defensive Combo: Tymaries Thompson-DuRant Tymaries Thompson-DuRant 5'10" | 155 lbs | LB Sumter | 2026 State SC LB, Sumter
Thompson-DuRant is absolutely still undersized. He’s too small to play the position and is going to get his lunch eaten on a weekly basis. Wait. He plays for Sumter, a program all about it’s size. We should have seen this coming. Thompson-DuRant covered receivers across the middle and even stepped back a few times and showed why his wheels make up for the fact that he’s “only” 6-foot and 160 pounds.
Best Defensive Line: Tre Aiken Clinton
Aiken just sort of gingerly made his way to the proverbial dais when he was announced, and it felt fitting for a 6-foot-4, 250-pound sophomore who wasn’t just happy to have been invited. He completed all the trench challenges as if he wanted to win every one, and he got himself into the conversation by staying in the running in more than one. Did we mention that a coach from a larger classification said “It’s really hard to see why Clinton is so good every year”?
Fastest Skill: Da’Marion Coe Da’Marion Coe 5'9" | 175 lbs | DB Hartsville | 2025 State SC ATH, Hartsville
In a few moments you’re going to have more reason to believe in the Red Foxes’ speed. But for now, know that Coe has now spent the better part of three seasons exhibiting his, and he wasn’t ready to let up just yet. Once referred to as the best tailback to have never played the position, the Hartsville junior has found other ways to make his dynamic wheels count.
Fastest Combo: Hakeem Watters Hakeem Watters 5'6" | 170 lbs | RB Hartsville | 2025 State SC RB, Hartsville
“Seriously? How fast is Hartsville?” – One of Friday’s talent evaluators saw what Coe did Friday and then was a bit awe-struck by Watters’ speed. Let us remind you of the tailbacks’ stat line from 2023: 154 carries, 1,572 yards (10.2 ypc), 21 touchdowns. And then let us remind you that he wasn’t even Hartsville’s top option out of the backfield coming into August.
Fastest Lineman: Josh Smith Josh Smith 6'2" | 220 lbs | DL Dutch Fork | 2025 State SC DL, Dutch Fork
There isn’t an accurate way to describe how far ahead of the pack Smith was during the 60-yard and 40-yard dashes than what he did in the former. Against all the other offensive and defensive lineman in the 60, Smith wasn’t running in a straight line. The Silver Foxes’ junior was running not-so-awkwardly diagonally out of the gate, then corrected – but not straight. He crossed the finish line having turned diagonally back the other direction. Our best estimate is that he actually finished first while running 67-68 yards instead of the 60 everyone else traversed.
Joanne Langfitt Team Award: Red Team
From receivers Josh Brown Josh Brown 6'1" | 190 lbs | WR Socastee | 2025 State SC (Socastee), Caden Ramsey Caden Ramsey 6'5" | 195 lbs | DB Cross | 2026 State SC (Cross) and JayAun Perkins (West Florence) to defensive back Da’Marion Coe Da’Marion Coe 5'9" | 175 lbs | DB Hartsville | 2025 State SC (Hartsville) and kicker Gray Dangerfield Gray Dangerfield 6'1" | 205 lbs | K James Island | 2025 State SC (James Island, who also won the specialists award), the Red team had a ton of talent that put it into the top of heap via several top-three finishes.
MVP: Will Wilson Will Wilson 6'1" | 220 lbs | QB Richland Northeast | 2025 State SC QB, Richland Northeast
It certainly wasn’t nepotism that earned Wilson the MVP honors. While his father, Walt, is coaching the South squad in Saturday’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl, the North Carolina State commitment impressed from beginning to end Friday. His huge arm lifted the White team to a bunch of points and he had no issue going deep or finding receivers underneath coverages during the 7-on-7 portions of the event.