Junior Showcase Game Notebook

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ROCK HILL </strong>| <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2026/01/stars-shine-in-junior-showcase-thriller/">Sunday's Junior Showcase Game</a> gave us the opportunity to get our eyes on rising seniors, and they were impressive as talent from the Catawba River Region, Upstate, Midlands and Lowcountry were on display at South Pointe HS. Let's take a look at who won MVPs for each team and other general observations from what we saw:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>MVP HONORS (all pictured above)</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we mentioned yesterday, South Pointe's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='513067' first='Malik' last='Ratliff'] </strong>walked away with the overall MVP award. On the East team, Lugoff Elgin's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603854' first='Eric' last='Richardson'] </strong>took home the best WR award, finishing with five receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Summerville's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819778' first='Nolan' last='Giet'] </strong>won top honors for the offensive line.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Midland Valley's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='644030' first='Xavier' last='Geter'] </strong>won best quarterback, finishing 7-of-13 for 112 yards and one touchdown along with seven carries for 16 yards and a touchdown on the ground. North Augusta's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1536398' first='Simeon' last='Jones'] </strong>won best defensive lineman, finishing with three tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass breakup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the West team, River Bluff's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1422592' first='Caleb' last='Pinkney'] </strong>won the best DB while Hillcrest's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820612' first='Easton' last='Demarski'] </strong>took home the special teams MVP. Kennan's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822187' first='Hunter' last='O'Neal'] </strong>won best running back. South Pointe's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1271263' first='KJ' last='Burg'] </strong>won the best linebacker award, finishing with six total tackles tied for the team best. Burg did an excellent job of defeating a block on a third down screen to force a punt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Man, it's a blessing. I met so many good guys, being in the same room with them. (We) talked football and it's a great group of kids in South Carolina. If you want football players, come to South Carolina," Burg told Prep Redzone SC after the game on playing with the talent from all over the state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>GENERAL OBSERVATIONS</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wilson's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1623916' first='Brian' last='Wilson II']</strong> made a nice pass breakup on the East's first possession on defense after their offense went down and scored.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Southside Christian's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604061' first='Nigel' last='Rock']</strong> was a name we heard often throughout the afternoon – he made a good tackle out in the flat during the first quarter. He finished with two tackles including one quarterback hurry. Clover's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1404968' first='Jackson' last='Hill'] </strong>came up with a sack on third down in the fourth quarter as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1172361' first='Matthew' last='Ponkow'] </strong>from Bishop England ended a scoring threat with a nice tackle in the second quarter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hammond's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1172370' first='Kanye' last='Reed'] </strong>made an unbelievable one catch inside the 10 yard line late in the contest to set up the East team for a score. He finished with 3 catches for 54 yards. South Pointe's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1476906' first='Kadin' last='Vassel'] </strong>made an impressive catch in traffic on a completion from Hillcrest's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604046' first='Jackson' last='Free']</strong>. Vassel finished with four catches for 49 yards. Free finished 9-of-13 for 102 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1515057' first='Aiden' last='Fitzgerald'] </strong>finished 7-of-9 for 50 yards and a touchdown while Northwestern's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='232624' first='Xavier' last='Means'] </strong>went 4-of-7 for 94 yards and two touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spartanburg's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1172345' first='Trenton' last='Lynch'] </strong>led the running backs with 21 yards rushing. Woodruff's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036753' first='Aiden' last='Gibson'] </strong>was effective in the passing game – he made a move on a throw out in the flat showing his strength for a first down. He had 3 catches for 28 yards and a touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Leading the way defensively for the East team in tackles was Wilson's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1640595' first='Da'von' last='Bowman']</strong> along with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823120' first='Dillon' last='Hutcherson'] </strong>from Blythewood and finally Hammond's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='763831' first='John' last='Stokes'] </strong>– each had six tackles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outside of Burg for the West team, a pair of Upstate defenders led the way – Dorman's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1818140' first='Antwone' last='Tarrence'] </strong>with six tackles and four for a loss and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1702151' first='James' last='Porter'] </strong>with three tackles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->