Daniel's Jace Grass leads a talented junior quarterback class in South Carolina

             Sumter –Jace Grass of Daniel (6-1, 190), Beau Hite (6-0,170) of Emerald and Ryan Brucha (6-5,200) of York are all high quality and talented signal callers who are highly valued on the HSSR junior prospects list coming into the 2026 season.

 Hite, who committed to the South Carolina baseball program in August, is ranked as the number three overall prospect in the class, while Grass is ranked 5^th and Bruchu is in the number seven spot. This represents the first time in the 40 years existence of the HSSR that three quarterbacks have claimed the first seven spots in the publication’s ranking service, studied by major colleges all over the nation.

 We will first go inside the world of Grass. After throwing for 18 touchdowns and 1,969 yards as a freshman at Pendelton High School in 2024, Grass made the decision to transfer to Daniel for his sophomore season.

             Along with adding two inches, and 20 pounds for a 6-foot-1-inch, 185-pound frame, Grass threw for 2,779 yards and 31 touchdowns against just two interceptions in leading the Lions to a 10-2 record as a sophomore. Those accomplishments earned Grass a spot among the top junior quarterback in South Carolina, leading him to receive offers from several Power 4 Conference schools.

             Grass’ offers include Mississippi of the SEC, Louisville, and California, both ACC.  Reports indicate that his top five schools going into his junior are Ole Miss, Syracuse, SMU, App State and Akron but  with each passing week this order can change.

 .          He is listed as a 3-star recruit on Rivals, but with a tremendous junior season Grass is hoping to continue to see his stock soar. While he feels he is continuing to physically mature as a quarterback, Grass thinks he has made the biggest jump in how he processes the game mentally.

            “My mind for sure, the feel of the game,” was Grass’ response when asked about why he is a better quarterback than at the end of last season. “That’s the most important thing. I’ve trained; I’ve been able to get my feet a lot faster. But I’m smarter in the game, I know coverages, I know what to do every day.”

            That, in turn, has made Grass better physically.

            “My accuracy, my anticipation has really improved,” he said. “I’m better at knowing where the defense is at all times. It changes my game for sure.”

            Grass was pretty accurate last season, completing 62 percent of his passes, 193 of 311.

            Grass is hoping to post some huge numbers this season and believes that is achievable if Daniel makes one of its deep playoffs runs.

 “The most important thing is for us to win state,” said Grass in reference to the Lions, who will be back at AAA this season, after playing at AAAA the two previous seasons. “I want 40 touchdowns and 4,000 yards/. I think I’ve got a few more games in me. I want a state championship.”

The HSSR has been following the progress of Hite with keen interest the past two seasons. His father (Tombo Hite) was an outstanding athlete at Abbeville in the 1990’s, and his uncle Mack, was elevated from being athletic director, and head baseball coach at Emerald the past few years, to becoming the new Principal at the school.

 During his first two years on the varsity football team, Hite threw for 3,000 yards with 27 TD’s. In his first game this season, he helped lead Emerald to a 26-0 win over Crescent when he completed 18-of-29 passes for 226 yards and three TD’s.

While Hite has been having fun on the football field, as a 14, 15 year and 16-year-old, it has been his summer baseball “Show Case” experiences that put him on full display in-front of college and professional scouts from all across the nation. Hite is considered by the Perfect Games organization to be among the best fielding shortstops in the nation, and he rarely makes an error in the field. He is also rated as the number one junior baseball prospect in the state of South Carolina by most scouts for this upcoming season.

 Tad Dubose, the head football coach and athletic director at Emerald, explains  why  Hite went ahead and committed to South Carolina in baseball, despite having exceptional talent as a quarterback.

   “I do not know many college baseball staffs go to watch one of their recruits practice football at 6 a.m. in the morning,” said Coach Dubose. “This is what happened in early August when we decided to practice that early, due to the heat. I am talking the entire baseball staff from South Carolina shows up, and they stayed for the whole practice, and watched Beau’s every move with keen interest.

“Gosh, what kid in America would not have been impressed with that recruiting strategy,” said Coach Dubose. “I guess that proved to Beau how much the Gamecocks wanted him to play baseball at the school he grew up following. When they made him an offer, he wasn’t too long in making a commitment.”   

Dubose is very high on Hite’s football ability. “Beau is a natural athlete, and the unreal speed and agility he has in his feet helps him both a great quarterback and a great shortstop in baseball,” said coach Dubose. “He can make all the throws. He is hard to sack with his mobility. His arm has really become stronger in the past year as he continues to develop physically.

 “Also, we finally have some talented receivers for him to work with, and we expect him to put up some huge numbers this season,” said Coach Dubose. “Just maybe we will have football staffs coming to his baseball gamers in the Spring, after this season is over. I know that Beau is a very special athlete who enjoys competing, no matter the sport he is playing at the time.”

Hite runs a 6.8 sixty in baseball which translates to a 4.5 forty in football. It is also likely that he might have an opportunity to be drafted into professional baseball after his senior year of high school, but sign ability is going to be a major issue.

 Ryan Bruchu (6-5, 200) is a late developing junior quarterback prospect at York High and his high school coach, Dean Boyd brought the signal caller to the HSSR’s attention at the summer Coaches Clinic in Greenville.

“He’s impressed college coaches at all the many camps he attended over the summer,” said Coach Boyd. “He has a huge upside with his height and strong arm. We expect him to have a ton of major college offers by the end of this season.”

 Bruchu got off to a great start in his first game of the ‘26 season. He was 16-of-23 for 158 yards and three touchdowns.

 The top-rated senior by the HSSR in the 2027 class is Oceanside Collegiate Academy’s Aiden Manavian who is rated sixth overall. He led the Landsharks to a second straight AAA state title last season, throwing for 4,028 yards and 41 touchdowns. He comes into his senior season having passed over 6,100 yards in his prep career.

While Manavian has several offers from the Group of 6 conference schools, he has committed to Davidson College, a Football Championship  Subdivision  school located just outside of Charlotte. Another dominant performance as a senior might get him some more offers to pore over.

            There are several other quarterbacks across the state who are getting varying degrees of interest and these quarterbacks are all in the HSSR Top 100 prospect list and they warrant evaluation. One of them is Sam Holliday, who will be in his fourth year as a starter at Fountain Inn.

            Holliday became the starter at Fountain Inn in just the second year of the school’s football program. He completed 153 of 231 passes for 2,069 yards and 23 touchdowns last season. He also rushed for 785 yards and 16 touchdowns on 134 carries.

           Holliday is looking for a really good senior season.

           “It’s been a really good offseason,” he said. “I feel really good about the work I’ve put in. I had a productive summer. There were lots of things I can build on. It’s going to be super exciting to see everything come together.

“I feel like I’ve improved in a lot of different aspects,” Holliday “I’m stronger, faster, and bigger and I’ve put on weight. I’m trying to perfect my mechanics and growing in the knowledge of football.”

  Heading into the season, Holliday had offers from Samford, Presbyterian, Anderson, and UNC Pembroke.

 Xavier Means of Northwestern is committed to East Carolina. It remains to be seen whether that will be as a quarterback, or somewhere else on the field at the next level.

 Whatever Means does at the collegiate level, he is electric as the quarterback for the Trojans. Means completed 258- of- 341 passes for 2,873 yards and 25 touchdowns against just eight interceptions while rushing for 1,239 yards and 27 touchdowns on 208 carries in leading Northwestern to the AAAAA Division II state championship.

             Kevin Johnson led Northwood Academy to the SCISA AAAA state title last season. He had a big year, completing 180 of 284 passes for 2,499 yards and 24 touchdowns against just five interceptions.

            With most of the pieces on offense returning, Johnson expects more of the same.

 “We have nine out of 11 people back on offense, so we should have good chemistry,” Johnson said. “I’m confident we’ll be good again this year. We just have to concentrate, communicate, play as one team, one family.

“I feel like I’m more patient, my footwork is better. I’ve just beren working with my QB coach and just throwing and getting better.”

 Johnson has offers from Hampden Sydney and Johnson C. Smith, and he hopes more opportunities are coming his way. He also went to junior days at Wofford and North Carolina Central.

 Dwayne Louallen Jr. is back for his third year starting at Central. After leading the Eagles to two of their most successful seasons in recent history, Louallen is looking for even better things.

“Every year I see improvement in myself,” he said. “I’m a better player and I’m trying to get as close as I can to being a college athlete.”

Louallen put in the work over the summer, going to 16 different camps. No offers have come his way as of yet, but he sees it as just a matter of time.

All I have to do is keep doing what I’ve been doing every year,” he said. “I’m just going to keep my faith in God, and when it comes, it comes.”

 Louallen completed 102 of 166 passes for 1,665 yards and 17 touchdowns while running for 697 and 11 more scores in leading Central to the AA lower state championship contest.

 Andrews’ Avery Durham, Laurence Manning’s Grainger Powell, and Johnsonville’s Larkin Powell all hope to impress some college scouts this season in their second and third seasons as a starter, respectively.

“I feel like my arm is bigger, I throw harder,” said the 6-4, 195-pound Durham. “I think I’ll be able to make more plays with my feet this year.”

“One of the big things will be the experience level,” Powell said. “You just get that by playing over time. You just grow up when you play and move into roles fulfilling your duties. You get better over time.”

 Grainger Powell (5-11, 165) burst on the scene as a freshman quarterback at Laurence Manning Academy when he threw for over 1,500 yards. In his career, Powell has averaged 208 yards passing per game while completing 66.9 per cent of the passes he has thrown.

 Powell is also a talented baseball player who can play numerous positions on the field.

 Pinewood Prep QB Silas Brawner (6-6,210) transferred to the Panthers from Summerville after his sophomore season and he led the team to the SCISA AAA state tile last year with some eye-popping stats. Brawner completed 182-of-280 passes for 3,414 yards and 45 TD’s.

 He is currently committed to Presbyterian, and the Blue Hose are holding their breaths that a major college offer that does not come Brawner’s way at the end of this season.

 After his first two games of ‘26 season Pinewood Prep is 2-0 and Brawner has completed 36-of-55 passes for 555 yards and seven TD’s.

 Do any major colleges need Brawner’s phone number?

 The HSSR is also very high on Camden Top 100 senior QB Greysen Rimpf (6-2, 190) who threw completed 148-of-236 passes for 2,390 yards and 28 TD’s as a junior.

 Rimpf’s father, Brian, is the head coach at Camden High and he spent four seasons in the NFL after finishing a very successful college football career at East Carolina. No doubt the young Rimpf is like a coach on the field for the Bulldogs.

 Rimpf helped Camden defeat Dillon 35-13 in their season opener when he completed 8-of-123 passes for 155 yards and two TD’s.

 Note: HSSR Publisher Billy Baker Contributed To This Article