Lowcountry Legacies Put Stamp on Final 2026 Rankings

Over the past two years in particular, I've spent countless hours evaluating talent in the Lowcountry, seeing the very best the zone has to offer.   Games. Practices. Combines.   From there, media days, phone interviews and texts galore.    What I found was that the 2025 football season will be carved into my memory thanks in large part due to the area encompassing Charleston down to Hilton Head. It's a large zone, and one defined in large part by its biggest schools. But up and down the south end of the state's coastline were the types of players we won't forget any time soon.   Here are 10 of my favorites.   [player_tooltip player_id='473021' first='Caden' last='Ramsey'] ATH, Cross   We've chronicled Ramsey's rise more in-depth than most, and for that we have coach Shaun Wright to thank. He kept us up to date on Ramsey's development, of course, but it went a step further. We had a front-row to one of the most dynamic athletes this state has witnessed, and we saw him grow into superstar levels. Ramsey led the state in interceptions as a sophomore, then navigated a senior season that fell one win shy of a state championship appearance. All the while, he was navigating his own recruitment, one that led him to the University of South Carolina.    [player_tooltip player_id='617718' first='Kenshon' last='Speaks'] OL, Beaufort (pictured)   There's no other way to say this: The Eagles struggled mightily during Speaks' final two seasons. But what stood out more to us was the he bucked the transfer trend and stuck with the guys who helped his own abilities stand out instead of searching for greener pastures. Speaks put himself into the discussion of most consistent and productive offensive linemen statewide, even while Beaufort lost more than it won. He was a starter as a freshman, changed positions as a sophomore and never let his grasp of a starting tackle job go.   [player_tooltip player_id='1267220' first='Zion' last='Britt'] OL, Berkeley    Speaking of tackles, Britt was often overlooked because he didn't have the pure size of some of the others north of him in the rankings. But for the better part of three years he was undoubtedly most reliable and consistent face on this offense. He was aggressive when he needed to be while displaying a patience when the situation called for that. His late promotion to the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas, then, felt fitting. Because if you were in a pinch, running behind Britt or needed him to protect the edge was just sort of what he did, even if he wasn't always the first choice.    [player_tooltip player_id='1592310' first='Quinn' last='Mahoney'] QB, Bishop England    It took Mahoney a matter of days in pads after transferring to Bishop England to finally get a chance to show off his right arm. In his first game after moving over from Oceanside Collegiate he completed 11-of-14 passes for two touchdowns and 168 yards. Turns out, that was just the appetizer for some of the numbers he would put over over the next two years. In that span, he threw for at least 200 yards nine times, and if had not been for a nagging injury, that figure would have been significantly higher. Mahoney's high school career is done, but he's signed with Campbell, meaning we're not done hearing his name.    [player_tooltip player_id='1592194' first='Jaemin' last='Pinckney'] DL, Woodland    Pinckney may be end up being one of the bigger success stories to come out of the Charleston area for this class. And the best part is that despite his individual star power, his demeanor was team-first and it showed in how he carried himself. The lanky edge rusher committed to South Florida before flipping to Florida State at the last minute. He's absolutely got Power 4 size, and even with the Carolinas Coaches Combines taking place at his school, there's no doubting that Woodland is tucked away just enough that we get why more folks don't know who Pinckney is. Give that some time. Because if he pops off in some nationally televised game in a couple years, don't be surprised that the big kid from the little school is making another impression.   [player_tooltip player_id='1357963' first='Landon' last='Jackson'] DL, Berkeley    If you are looking for an embodiment of high school football, look no further than Jackson. Here's a defensive lineman who measured in at 5-foot-6 and 229 pounds in the spring. What his frame was concealing was a raw-then-developed strength. The fact that opponents continued to struggle to block him became a favorite of ours on the highlights circuit. After all, this was a player who dominated the bench at the combine and then seemingly got stronger during his senior year (somehow). How else do you explain the fact that he finished with 22 tackles for loss this fall? Jackson doesn't have scores of offers, but    [player_tooltip player_id='1734478' first='Cooper' last='Kafina'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1734517' first='Max' last='Stafford'] QBs, Summerville    When Kafina was rushed into action in the 2024 state championship loss to Dutch Fork after Jaden Cummings got hurt, it didn't necessarily lead to a Hoosiers-like underdog story, but it did set off what was a fun quarterback competition that both Kafina and Stafford handled about as well as you could have expected. Stafford, who began his career at Philip Simmons before heading to Florida for a year, returned to the area and enrolled at Summerville. Eventually, he won the “starting” job, but both players were on the field plenty and the Green Wave overcame some regular-season results that knocked them down a peg, only to climb their way back through the playoffs and into another title game performance. Between them, they threw for 2,500 yards and 25 touchdowns.   [player_tooltip player_id='1592672' first='CJ' last='Falotico'] K/P, Philip Simmons   Year after year, we see guys who make the type of improvement that only proves to us just how committed to getting better they are. Falotico checks every box of that sentence. And the best part is, you'd never know it by looking at him. The multi-faceted specialist came into his senior year sporting some pretty solid junior figures. And then he demolished all of them. His kickoffs gained another 6 yards (allowing him to average a touchback distance). He boosted his punting clip by 3 yards and pinned nearly half of his 22 punts inside the 20. He hit eight addition extra points - which, yes, you could attribute to more opportunities - but he also drilled seven additional field goals, which is about the coaching staff's faith in him.    [player_tooltip player_id='1592230' first='Sean' last='Mitchell'] RB/DB, May River   Mitchell started to make his skill set known during his next-to-last season at May River when he nearly rushed for 1,000 yards. By the midway point of his senior year, not only was it apparent that hitting that plateau was inevitable, he took on a defensive role that was anything but secondary to what he did on offense. He wrapped up his career with some stellar numbers. He had 30 tackles and a pair of interceptions on defense. And on the other side, all he did was rush for a hair over 1,300 yards and 17 touchdowns while hauling in two more scores receiving. If you ask coaches around the 4A portion of the zone who they're ready to not play against anymore, Mitchell's name would be at or near the top of the list.

Over the past two years in particular, I've spent countless hours evaluating talent in the Lowcountry, seeing the very best the zone has to offer.