GSPD’s Best: Zone’s Top 10 Players

The 2025 high school football season will be here before you know it. Impress your family, friends and neighbors with how much you know by gaining access to everything Prep RedZone South Carolina produces by <a href="https://prepredzone.com/subscribe/">becoming a subscriber today</a>. We are currently running a 40% off special on all annual subscriptions to the site. Simply use the offer code Guerin40 at checkout to take advantage.   The Grand Strand & Pee Dee has no shortage of athletes.    There are Power 4 commitments and returning stars and players you should have already become accustomed to hearing from just about every Friday night during the fall. The 2025 football season will be no different.    This zone has stars on top of stars.   Clearly, there was no easy way to pick the very best 10 players.   Today, we kick off our three-part outside look at the GSPD with exactly that. We've analyzed 2024 production, offseason growth, potential to take over a game and their individual scope of the recruiting landscape. These 10 have made their arguments and continue to do so well in advance of the regular-season openers on August 22.    Let's have at it.    [player_tooltip player_id='1395094' first='Jaylen' last='Augustus'] QB, Darlington    Augustus (pictured) presents issues that most quarterbacks around Class 4A football don't. For starters, he's north of 6-foot-3 and 175 pounds, meaning he's got a built-in eye-in-the-sky view. What he's shown he can do with it over the last two seasons has then been even more fun to watch. Augustus went from a pass-first quarterback as a sophomore to one who showed no issue running more than he threw as a junior. It was then that he used his vantage point to find running lanes and lead the Falcons with 1,298 yards and 15 touchdowns. He still threw for 947 and six, and while his 10 interceptions are throws he'd most definitely like back, he's got everyone guessing from one snap to the next. It's why he had seven games of at least two produced touchdowns last fall. Not bad considering it was his first crack at a rejuvenated plan of attack.   [player_tooltip player_id='1267229' first='Antonio' last='Brown'] LB/RB, Myrtle Beach   One of the fun parts of talking season is seeing how much teams refuse to state some of the obvious. In Myrtle Beach's case, leaving Brown off the offensive depth chart isn't so much deception as it is “Why Bother?” Last year, in the Seahawks' Rhino package, Brown took 52 direct snaps behind the heavy set line in front of him. On those 52 carries, he reached the end zone 17 times. If you're curiously, that would put him somewhere in the neighborhood of the top 40 statewide in rushing touchdowns, falling mostly behind guys who had four times as many carries. Did we mention that's simply the “other” thing he does for Myrtle Beach? As the Seahawks' starting middle linebacker, Brown racked up 92 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and a pair of sacks as a junior. He's put on 20 pounds or so in advance of his final run with the program.   [player_tooltip player_id='1148537' first='Jaryn' last='Fox'] RB, Carolina Forest   We've mentioned this before, and it's worth repeating: Over the course of the last seven games of the 2024 season, Fox averaged 206 yards and two-and-a-half rushing touchdowns. What we left out last time was that one of those games was such a blowout he barely did anything. Fox is perfect for this offense. He's gut a quick first step, power to break a tackle and then the type of field vision that allows to go for nine yards when most would have gotten five. The fact that he can catch the ball out of the backfield and put those same abilities to use only makes him more of a headache for the rest of Region VI-5A. His 1,774 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns (plus another 198 and two receiving) from last season boosted his individual stock, and he stands as a top-50 player in the state for a reason.   [player_tooltip player_id='816736' first='Terry' last='Gordon'] LB, South Florence    Like most incoming freshman, Gordon wasn't listed on the Bruins' depth chart when he started high school in the fall of 2022. Three years later, he's walking into his final season and has an opportunity to be considered one of the most accomplished players in program history. After forcing his way onto the field as a freshman (47 tackles, state championship), he made a massive jump as a sophomore (111 tackles, 17 TFL, state runner-up) and then flashed brilliance as a junior (87 tackles, 13 TFL, state championship). Those last totals came despite him missing a pair of games. He's been that good, and for a relatively long period of time at this level. For all the different stars South has had during this heyday, Gordon's name should considered right up there with the best of them.    [player_tooltip player_id='473016' first='AJ' last='Grate'] ATH, Waccamaw    Since bursting onto the scene as a freshman in 2022, Grate has been an MVP type of player for a Waccamaw squad that is often against a wall with some of its region competition. Yet, throughout it all, he has produced. While Grate is mostly being recruited as a college linebacker, his value to the Warriors is all over the map, and opposing teams know it. Grate occasionally slides back into a safety spot; he's even more diverse on offense. He lines up as a tailback and takes direct snaps. He can shift into H-Back and block on the edge or drift out and play receiver. It's entirely possible that he leads Waccamaw in rushing yards, receiving yards and tackles as a senior. And he'll be doing all of it with the watchful eyes of every opponent knowing how much of a threat he is from one play to the next, on either side of the ball.    [player_tooltip player_id='402516' first='Zyon' last='Guiles'] OL, Carvers Bay   The word on Guiles has been out for some time. He's a talented lineman who is already verbally committed to South Carolina and has an all-state nod on his resume. What pushes him over the top from most offensive linemen who have started at this level early in their career is that he's continued to develop physically. He now stands as one of the most dominant offensive linemen in all of South Carolina. Guiles has fine-tuned all the raw talent he displayed as a freshman and sophomore into a more polished - and yet equally violent - blocker, especially in the run game. Guiles is pulled across the line frequently because of it. And, when he's not on offense, it's a coin flip whether or not he'll be lining up on the defensive line, as well. The chances of that likely increase as games become much more important in October.    [player_tooltip player_id='1166986' first='Messiah' last='Jackson'] QB, South Florence   Jackson showed the state what he was capable of on the biggest stage last December when he three for three touchdowns and ran for another two in the Class 4A title game victory over Westside. He ran the ball 14 times and threw 11 passes; yep, he helped the Bruins into the end zone once for every five non-handoff plays he was involved in - again, during a state championship. That game was loaded with Power 4 commitments from both teams. And, at the end of it, Jackson had played one of the biggest roles. He finished the year with 2080 yards and 30 touchdowns and rushed for another 369 and 11. There will be some adjustments that need to happen given some of the Bruins' offensive turnover. But having Jackson back for his senior year is huge for a team accustomed to playing in the final weekend of the season.   [player_tooltip player_id='1165163' first='Zamaurious' last='Robertson'] WR, Dillon    Last year, when Robertson had to come out of the team's game at Socastee on Sept. 2 with an injury, more than a few Wildcat fans were holding their breath. He only missed a matter of quarters, and when he came back a couple weeks later, it was as if nothing changed. He finished the year with 948 yards and nine touchdowns - all with a converted receiver throwing him the ball. He got his first official offer in November, earned a few more, used the Carolinas Coaches Combines to help further show what he could do, got onto North Carolina's offer sheet in June and ultimately committed to the Tar Heels two weeks later. Robertson has all the makings of a Shrine Bowl selection, all while having a young, but extremely capable, new quarterbacks looking for No. 3 on the outside.    [player_tooltip player_id='1025808' first='Chris' last='Stewart'] DL, Andrews   Stewart was briefly verbally committed to Elon this offseason before another wave of interests and offers persuaded him to keep his options a little more open. He'll be debating that next phase for at least a few more weeks, but the upside of his game and his ability to define every Friday night for this season is unmistakable. Stewart led the Yellow jackets in tackles (93), tackles for loss (31.5), sacks (13.5) and forced fumbles (two) as a junior. He did all that by making sure he was in the right position, sure, but his 81-inch wing span of most of the rest of his 6-foot-2 frame didn't hurt. Stewart is explosive off the snap and even with everyone chipping away at him with tight ends and tailbacks throughout the 2025 season, there's little reason to believe he won't be able to surpass his 2024 production.    [player_tooltip player_id='1395062' first='Damarea' last='Thurmond'] DL, Loris    Hidden behind his big ol' smile is a player interested only in one thing: Putting whomever is standing in front of him on the ground. The 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive lineman can play the edge or nose, the efficiency at which he impacts the trenches can't be undersold. As a junior, Thurmond was so good at handling double teams that other players on the line and in the linebacking unit were able to run free to put up ridiculous numbers of their own. When teams changed how they were going to block Thurmond, it often blew up in their faces, too. He was among the team leaders in tackles and tackles for loss again. There's no telling how 2025 will shape up for him in the statistical category, but if we're going back to his influence on every play, he's a game-changer for the Lions.

The 2025 high school football season will be here before you know it. Impress your family, friends and neighbors with how much you know by gaining access to everything Prep RedZone South Carolina produces by becoming a subscriber today. We are currently running a 40% off special on all annual subscriptions to the site. Simply use the offer code Guerin40 at checkout to take advantage.