Five Biggest Unsung Players in the Lowcountry

<a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/07/lowcountrys-best-zones-top-10-players/">The best of the best</a>? Check.   <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/07/lowcountrys-15-biggest-player-storylines/">The next biggest storylines</a>? Also check.   Now, we wrap up our collective look at the Lowcountry with the third leg of our series.   The unsung players. The glue guys. The dudes who propel away from the headlines.    Each of these five players can be called a driving force for their respective squads. They are good ball players, of course, and we believe each of them will be years to come. But what they bring to the table in terms of leadership - both physical and verbally - changes the entire dynamic of their teams.   When we looked at every team in the zone, we kept coming back to these five: Two offensive lineman and a trio of two-way threats.   Individually, they check a different type of box that can't be ignored.    [player_tooltip player_id='617718' first='Kenshon' last='Speaks'] OL, Beaufort    Speaks (pictured) is about to be starting for the fourth straight year, an impressive feat since he's been asked to block some of the very best defensive linemen in the state since he was a 14-year-old freshmen (he turned 15 in the days leading up to the Eagles' 2022 state championship victory).    He was a guard then, but he soon after transitioned to tackle. It became his new home on the Beaufort line. While skill players and most of the line around him came and went, there was Speaks. He's 6-foot-4 and 295 pounds, and he's going to have his chance to play collegiately somewhere.    But not before he gives Beaufort everything he's got for one more season as the heart of this offense.    Beaufort coach Bryce Lybrand: “Kenshon has really grown and matured in his time at Beaufort High School. He has become a valuable leader and also a phenomenal player during that time. If he continues to progress the way that he has in his first three years I expect for him to have a huge senior season.”   [player_tooltip player_id='1575461' first='Zach' last='Balog'] WR/DB/ST, Bishop England   When we added Balog to the Class of 2026 rankings at the end of last season, we knew it wasn't going to be one of those deals where he joined the charts and then plateaued. In fact, when we update the list in August, you're going to see him much higher than his current spot.    Why? Every time we dig into him more, we see something else we like.    Balog is going to return kicks. He's going to play in the defensive secondary. And, of course, he's going to catch a whole lot more passes. As a junior, he hauled in 65 of them for 1,027 yards and seven touchdowns. He showed he could high-point passes and burn defenders, absorb contact and block downfield. Put it together, and Bishop England is going to struggle to give him breathers on Friday nights this fall.   Bishop England coach Logan Hall: “Balog is a program leader on and off the field. He excels in the classroom and is a team captain for our program. He's a do-it-all guy and just makes plays any position you put him at. Yes, we have great players around him, and it's a team sport. But when he plays well we play well. He outworks people in the weight room and is a student of the game.”   [player_tooltip player_id='1271262' first='Alex' last='Tchoryk'] DL/TE, Philip Simmons    It takes about a quarter of football to start putting a different type of count together for Tchoryk. Defensively, for every one of his 49 tackles or 8.5 sacks, there's another play where he's not going to be credited statistically for the play being made. He's a disruptive edge rusher whose length is constantly trying to be circumvent, often to bad results for the offense.    Defensive teammates like [player_tooltip player_id='1592627' first='Ethan' last='Chisum'] are going to get their run, often because Tchoryk can make the the 53.3-yard width of a football field feel like a tunnel for opposing quarterbacks and tailbacks.   Conversely, Tchoryk loves his job as one of the team's starting tight ends just as much. He's uses his reach to pummel defenders and has an ridiculous catch radius that opponents have to plan for just as much.   Philip Simmons coach Eric Bendig: “Alex is the kind of player you build around. He's a force at defensive end. He is physical, disciplined, relentless. What then sets him apart is that he brings just as much value on the offensive side as a tight end. In big-time competition, guys like Alex are rare. He's tough, smart and completely selfless. He doesn't care about stats. He cares about the team and winning ball games.”   [player_tooltip player_id='1603740' first='Thaddeus' last='Czarnecki'] RB/LB, Hilton Head    Czarnecki is a shade under 5-foot-9. And as of last check, he was a respectable-but-not-exactly big 185 pounds. The motor that pushes him around, though, always feels like it's cranked to the max.    As the team's “other” tailback last fall, Czarnecki put up 794 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging 8.7 yards per carry while often laughing off first contact. He was also second on the squad with 86 total tackles, 64 of which were solo.   Need more? He blocked a punt. He took his only punt return for a touchdown. Did the same with his lone kickoff return. Czarnecki's measurables might not do him a lot of favors in the recruiting cycle for now, but he's the embodiment of the type of player PRZ tries to highlight.   Hilton Head coach BJ Payne: “Thaddeus is an unselfish grinder who never comes off the field. His impact is felt throughout an entire game on both sides of the ball. He's relentless, dedicated.”   [player_tooltip player_id='1036776' first='Israel' last='Harris'] OL, James Island    The Trojans were coming off a 12-1 season in in 2023 when the SCHSL multiplier hit the program like a ton of bricks. Not only was James Island going to have to replace the vast majority of its offensive production with the graduations of quarterback Braxton Scott, receiver Wushi Ravenel and tailbacks Amontrae Scott and Junior Maxwell, they were informed that they would be moving up to the state's biggest class.    Then, weeks into the 2024 season, tailbacks Jalen Brown-Singleton unexpectedly moved to Florida.   That's when Harris ignited something special. His physicality was evident on a lot more plays than it wasn't, and his teammates followed suit en route to a second-straight 10-win season that included a trip to the third round of the playoffs.    James Island head coach Jamar McKoy: “Shank is a leader. Moving up to Class 5A, Division I was challenging. His strong leadership up front was crucial to our success. As coaches, we aim to find solutions. As a player, Shank's aim was to empower and lead by example on and off the field. His dedication in the offseason and him galvanizing the players around him through his love and passion for the game has been key to our success.”

The best of the best? Check.