A Sneak Peek At Six Rising Freshman Palmetto State Players Invited To The Under Armour All-American Game In Orlando December, 26th
Thomas Heyward Academy's Tony O'Banner.
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Moncks Corner—With the 2025 football class in South Carolina all but closed out with the early signing period in December, it is a good time to turn out thoughts to the Class of 2026 in South Carolina, but we have recently researched some information we want to share on the Class of 2029 in the Palmetto State that should impress anyone who follows recruiting.
First and foremost, the HSSR thanks Mr. Mark Grainger, and the fine folks at Modern Turf in Irmo and Rembert for their sponsorship of this recruiting page.
Middle school football (7th and 8th graders mainly) is gaining popularity with most school districts in the Palmetto State. On December, 26 in Orlando, Florida Under Armour sponsored the 8th Grade Next Level all-star game and there were six young men from the state of South of South Carolina (from 80 invited from all across top 8th graders from around the nation. At this high-profile event there were six 8th graders from South Carolina. This is a strong indication that the Class of 2029 in South Carolina will be loaded with four- and five- star prospects and we are about to share with you where these six players live in South Carolina.
The top 8th grader from South Carolina, by-far, was future Seneca two-way lineman Emari Jones (6-6,325). Yes, not quite 14 and he is this big. Reports from the all-star game in Orlando was that he was virtually unblockable, used mainly as a defensive tackle.
One scout at the game joked that with Seneca being only around 10 miles from the Clemson campus he was certain Dabo Swinney had already heard of this young man who is projected as a five-star prospect by his senior year (2029) of high school.
Back in November fans attending the Dillon versus Oceanside Collegiate play-off game at The Citadel took notice of the Dillon ball boy for good reason. Khayel Sam Fong-Talia (yes that is his real name) ran on-and-off the field, dribbling a football on the turf like a basketball, and he looked like he had total command of the pig skin for sure.
Well, Fong-Talia (6-1, 190) is now rated as the number 10 quarterback in the nation in the 2029 class, coming into the 2025 season, and Dillon fans have already watched him lead the junior varsity team at Dillon to an undefeated season. His family moved to Dillon last summer from Utah.
“I don’t like to comment about 8th graders moving up to the varsity at Dillon until they have proven themselves, but I will verify that he played in the Under Armour 8th grade all-American game last Thursday in Orlando, Florida,” said Coach Roller.
Shane Beamer, and his staff at South Carolina watched Fong-Talia lead Dillon to the championship game of their 7-on-7 highly attended summer camp last July on their campus. Sources at the camp said Coach Beamer was mildly shocked to find out Fong-Talia was only 13 years old. Fong-Talia prefers to stay in the pocket and he has a cannon for an arm. However, he does well play and he has excellent feet and looked like a much older player this past season but he is just now 14 years old.
The other 13-year-old Armour all-American 8th graders from South Carolina included defensive back Taddick Gibson Jr (5-10,150) who lives in Columbia. Bishop Allen (5-11,160) is a sure-handed football prospect from Lexington wo played well at the all-star event.
Rasean Brown (5-7,165) is a running back from Lancaster and he earned co-running back honors for his play at the all-star game in Florida. He showed outstanding speed in getting to the corner on one touchdown run. Malachi Watson (5-11, 290) is an offensive lineman from the Rock Hill area and he played well in the Under Armour 13-year-old all-American game also.
So, now you have some insight into what the state of South Carolina can expect from the 2029 class in just four years. It will be interesting to see how many of these six Palmetto football players keep working hard and develop into four and five stars going into their senior season three years from now.
News from the rising 2026 Class in South Carolina indicates that Bluffton wide receiver Carnnell Warren (6-4, 195) has accepted an offer from Virginia Tech. Warren played in the junior Under Armour all-American game in Orlando last week and he is considered among the top receivers in the state in the 2025 class.
Other 2026 football prospects already committed to major colleges include Gaffney quarterback Jayvon Gilmore (6-5,200) to Arkansas. South Carolina has 2026 commitments from South Pointe free safety J’Zavien Currence (65-3, 210) and teammate offensive lineman Anthony Baxter (6-3, 335).
Christ Church 2026 receiver Jude Hall (6-3, 185) is committed to Duke. Gaffney offensive lineman Scotland Dover (6-4,295) is committed to Appalachian State.
The High School Sports Report stands firmly by our top two players that we rank 1-2 in the 2026 class. Neither of these players are ranked among the top 14 players currently on the 247 Sports rankings. Our top two players are Timberland offensive tackle Desmond Green (6-4,325) who is pushing more than 24 major college offers right now.
Our number two rated player is Thomas Heyward 2026 running back/outside linebacker Tony O’Banner (6-1, 210) who scored virtually untouched on scoring runs of 52 and 48 yards in leading team his team to a state title in November. O’Banner has already attended numerous home games at South Carolina where his measurables were quite impressive.
O’Banner is a very good student in the class room and he told the HSSR after his outstanding game on both sides of the ball in November. “I like South Carolina a lot, but I have also visited Duke and I really like their academic opportunities available to me.”
