Lowcountry's Best: The Unsung Players

In honor of the five-site Prep RedZone Media Days series this June and July, we're giving everyone a 50% offer code on all subscriptions throughout July 31. Get access to more than 100 team previews and everything else we have in store for readers as we gear up for the 2026 football season. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/subscribe">Simply head to our subscription page</a> and use the code "przscmediaday2026" at checkout to take advantage of the savings.   Our wide-angle lens advancing the 2026 football season in the Lowcountry began with a look at some of the <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2026/07/lowcountrys-best-most-interesting-storylines/">more intriguing storylines</a>.    Now, we move on to the glue guys. These five players are invaluable to their respective programs, even if you've never or rarely heard their names mentioned.   Each of them is undoubtedly a driving force.   We've got an undersized offensive lineman who only recently converted from the defense, a quarterback with strong numbers but still often labeled as a game manager, a dude who might lead SCISA in receiving yards but has no issue doing just about anything else, a specialist who has been “weaponized” and a small defensive back who has turned into his team's rallying point via the weight room.   It stands to reason you might not hear about them much as the season progresses and flashier points of interest take hold.   But they've earned their time in the spotlight.    [player_tooltip player_id='1822036' first='Christian' last='Cromedy'], OL/DL, Philip Simmons   There are a bunch of reasons to love Cromedy. He's all of 6-foot and 225 pounds playing left tackle. He holds his own against some pretty spectacular defensive linemen. And he's not ever going to be getting much attention give some of the firepower the Iron Horses walk into stadiums each Friday during the fall.   But what stands out most to us is that the undersized starting left tackle at Philip Simmons wasn't even supposed to be on that side of the ball. After playing primarily on the defensive line - where he still pitches in along the interior and put up 21 tackles, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble last year - head coach Eric Bendig said Cromedy reminded him of two of his own college teammates and had the then-sophomore start working in on offense.   The gut feeling has paid off. Cromedy is now routinely planting, spinning and driving would-be tacklers to the sideline. He does it with excellent footwork and a knowledge of leverage that goes well beyond his years.    Philip Simmons coach Eric Bendig: “He really embraces the technical aspects of playing the offensive line position. Now, defensive line is where he would naturally go to. He's explosive, really long arms, quick feet, right? He's just an impressive kid. But on offense, if you tell him once to set in pass protection, if you tell him an inside tip ‘Put your hand here while we're doing this sort of move' - he embraces is. What it's done is solidify him as one of our best offensive linemen that we can't take off the field. You really put some other guys on the defensive line because Christian is such a big part of our offense.”   Tyler Harris QB, Cross   This time three years ago, Harris was still looked at within the Trojans' coaching staff as a potential up-and-comer at safety or possibly even a reserve tailback. Cross was pretty loaded, and he was given some chances to impress, albeit in extremely limited doses. Prior to his sophomore season, though, the real Harris proved he was ready for more.   Now a senior, 6-foot, 160 pounder will be a three-year starter at quarterback. Ask anyone outside the north end of the Lowcountry, though, and they probably don't know any of that. Because while Cross has had some big names (Caden Ramsey, Karmello Jones, etc.), Harris has 3,135 yards and 35 touchdowns the last two seasons while completing 61.8 percent of his passes.   The best part? He's continued to get more and more efficient month after month - all while hardly anyone knows his name. His improvement isn't some stroke of luck, nor is his value to a program that has won 23 games since he took over the starting quarterback position.    Cross coach Shaun Wright: “One thing that's special about Tyler is - as a head coach I can see who watches HUDL and see who logs in and how many hours someone puts in on film study; Tyler watches more film than anyone on the team and even sometimes some of the coaches. He's a student of the game, very quiet demeanor, doesn't say a lot. But you can just tell by his work ethic in practice, how he approaches Mondays, he knows prior to the games what plays we need to run against that particular look. He's just a guy that we have counted on and we've counted more on each year.”   [player_tooltip player_id='1607177' first='Joey' last='Houpt'] ATH, Hilton Head Christian (pictured)   Houpt is one of those guys who doesn't get a lot of love because of where he plays. Hilton Head Christian, even in the SCISA ranks, hasn't won more than seven games since winning the 2023 state title. But as the team has changed over, Houpt is one of the go-to guys on a roster full of rising stars who are individually and collectively giving outsiders reason to keep a close eye on the Eagles again.   Most see Houpt as a receiver. We get it, seeing as he caught 69 passes for 1,313 yards and 13 touchdowns last fall. But what tends to impress us even more is that he's doing his primary job while holding down so many others.    He's played linebacker, where last year he had 31 tackles, nine tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles. He's returned kickoffs. Punting? Done that, too. Oh, and he's Hilton Head Christian's long snapper. Even among small-school football fans, how Houpt does it all has to be respected.   Hilton Head assistant coach John Houpt: “The fact that he's doing whatever is requested by the coaching staff is huge for our team because we're playing a lot of younger kids and they've started to have that same role for us. It's just a different type of leadership role. A lot of people say ‘Let's be very vocal' or ‘Be aggressive' and they see physicality. But when they see hard work and grit at different things that somebody might not necessarily be very good at but is willing to work at to get good at it, they're like ‘This does pay off.'”   [player_tooltip player_id='1819172' first='Isaac' last='Lorentz'] K/P, James Island    The player known as “Thump” might be among the biggest recruits in the state you've never heard of. But Lorentz's monster left leg is undeniably one of the most notable tools in the Trojans' arsenal. As a sophomore, his average kickoff was a touchback - and by design, as James Island essentially commands he knock it out of the end zone as a form of intimidation.   He also notched 40.1 yards on his punts, hit all 41 of his extra points and was five-of-eight on his field goals, including a 50-yarder against Hilton Head last August and a high-pressure chip shot to win a playoff game.    In many ways, Lorentz is such a creature of habit that his swing and follow through feel about as automatic as any college coach could ask for, let alone one on this level. He's getting some serious looks from recruiters, of course, but his value for the Trojans in the here and now puts him into elite territory despite the lack of love for specialists.    James Island coach Jamar McKoy: “Kickers, writ and large, don't get a lot of attention. But we've tried to change that narrative at James Island. Isaac has gone to a lot of camps. He's an absolute weapon. He kicked a 50-plus yarder last year. Stratford tried to ice him in the third round last year, and he kicked the game winner. He's a weapon for us. We plan to use him as such again this fall. He's done well in practice. He kicked some bombs in the punting game. We're excited to have him for the next two years.”   [player_tooltip player_id='1819060' first='Cade' last='Rogers'] DB, Wando   Rogers doesn't have one of those physiques that's going to wow college recruiters or even strike much fear into opposing coordinators. And it's not as if he even went ham during the Carolinas Coaches Combine back in March at Woodland, either.   But when you see him in person, in the weight room or under the lights on game day, the real Rogers comes shining through. The 5-foot-8, 165-pound corner plays like he loves contact, knows how to slow down receivers at the line and then has no issue playing bigger than he is to disrupt opposing passing games.    He had 31 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble from his spot on the outside of the secondary last fall, which was a pretty good tally for him, all things considered. What he's done in recent months, though, has turned heads and started to create some positive momentum, not just for him, but for the entire Warriors' roster.   Wando coach Isaiah Perrin: “He's just a guy who from start to finish busts his behind. He goes 100 percent in the weight room. He's broken the squat record for any [defensive back] in school history. He does the little things that show those guys it doesn't matter how big you are. It only matters the effort you put in. I think our guys have rallied around him. He's stepped up to the point where we feel he can play both sides of the ball. He works hard. He doesn't complain.  He's just a guy that we can believe in, do what we need him to do.”

In honor of the five-site Prep RedZone Media Days series this June and July, we're giving everyone a 50% offer code on all subscriptions throughout July 31. Get access to more than 100 team previews and everything else we have in store for readers as we gear up for the 2026 football season. Simply head to our subscription page and use the code "przscmediaday2026" at checkout to take advantage of the savings.