HSSR top Low Country prospects attend Post and Courier media day

Neill Kirkpatrick • August 12, 2024

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By Neill Kirkpatrick

Special to the HSSR

Summerville – Sunday afternoon the Post and Courier held its annual football media at Cane Bay High School and despite a week that saw tropical storm Debby wreak havoc with practice schedules several of the low country’s top players and coaches showed up to talk and get their picture taken.

“We were only able to get in three practices this week so like a lot of teams we are behind in what we need to do to get ready for the opener,” said Cross High School head coach Shawn Wright.

The media day is held by long time Post and Courier and HSSR senior writer David Shelton. Shelton has been one of the top Prep writers in the state for over three decades and before pictures and interviews began he had a powerful message for all the young men, “Football is what you do and not who you are.”

Shelton shared with the players and coaches his personal tragedy of the loss of his two sons to the fentanyl problem plaguing our country. He let the players know that if you are having issues or other problems in your life there are always other solutions that will not end your life. He has a web site “1team1cause.com” which has the sole purpose to educate and help young people.

The HSSR’s top ranked junior prospect Desmond Greene of Timberland was in attendance. The 6-5, 335 five-star prospect has over 20 offers to date with no favorites at the present time. His biggest concern right now is to get ready for the season.

“I just keep grinding, keep working every day to get better. I want to embrace every challenge and every criticism to get better. I have heard from a lot of people and some stand out more than others but I am still feeling things out,” said Green.

The James Island Trojans are coming off the best season in school history since James Island and Fort Johnson merged, finishing the year at 12-1 and advancing into the third round had several players in attendance including HSSR Top 100 Prospects Dalton Woodall (28^th), Gray Dangerfield (48) and Hendrix Beran (54).

Woodall (6-3,295) and Beran (6-4,252) anchor the Trojan defensive line and both are being recruited by several schools with Woodall holding an offer from the University of Toledo.

On the upcoming season Woodall said, “We like to push each other a lot especially in the weight room. We have a lot of confidence and we know that if we continue to work hard and follow the plan we can go farther than we did last season.”

Dangerfield is the top ranked kicker in the state and recently picked up an offer from Virginia Tech to add to the four offers from Army, Navy, Georgia Southern and Charleston Southern.

When asked about being the top ranked kicker in the state Dangerfield replied, “It felt good to be recognized as the top kicker. I just get some touchbacks and score some points for the team.”

Fort Dorchester’s Jalen White checks in the 65^th ranked player in the HSSR’s Top 100. The 5-9, 170 defensive back will be playing for his third head coach in three years. Despite the turnover Jalen is still getting a lot of looks from college coaches among them are Wingate University, Georgia Southern and Coastal Carolina. Presently Wingate is in the lead.

“I am just trying to help the new players get ready for the season. We have kept the same defense so we feel good about that but we are working hard to get back to our legacy,” said White.

The HSSR always talked with a couple of players from the host school Cane Bay; defensive back Malachi Dickerson (6,170) and defensive end Joshua Frost (6, 220). Both are senior leaders for the Cobra’s and they are looking to lead the team to its first region championship in school history this year.

“My role on the team is to lead by example and to help the younger kids get used to how we practice and get ready to play,” said Dickerson.

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