For USC recruiting target Channing Tindall, awards and commitments can wait

Channing Tindall, star linebacker for Spring Valley High, isn’t doing things the usual way.

While the majority of South Carolina’s top football prospects have already committed to college programs, Tindall, a target for South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and many others, is drawing out his recruitment, choosing to take his sweet time.

While most of the other finalists for South Carolina’s Mr. Football award are offensive stars, stuffing the stat sheet with flashy numbers, Tindall is trying to become the first defensive player to win it since some guy named Jadeveon Clowney.

And while plenty of others are focusing in on his college choice and the honors he might win, Tindall is laughing with his teammates and friends, preparing for the biggest matchup of Spring Valley’s regular season.

Tindall’s Vikings thrashed River Bluff this past weekend, roaring to a 44-20 victory at Spirit Communications Park. With the game effectively over by the third quarter, Spring Valley coach Robin Bacon chose to rest his starters, pulling Tindall and letting the second unit take over as he looked ahead to this Friday’s matchup against rival Dutch Fork.

“We know what we got next week,” Bacon said after the win. “I told the guys (after the game) to stay focused.”

Even in less than three quarters of play, Tindall accumulated 13 tackles, two for loss, against the Gators, boosting his total on the year to 114 through eight games. He’ll likely need every stop he can get if he wants to earn the title of South Carolina’s Mr. Football: Defensive players have won the award just six times in 26 years, and a linebacker has never won.

“He deserves this,” Bacon said. “There’s a lot of great players that are there, but his stats speak for themselves. I know a lot of times this award goes to offensive guys, but in my opinion he’s the best football player in South Carolina.”

This Friday’s matchup could go a long way in giving Tindall a season-defining win. Spring Valley and Dutch Fork are the top-ranked teams in the Midlands and two of the best programs in the state, but Spring Valley has lost the previous four meetings, and Tindall is eager to avenge those defeats.

River Bluff “was a good win, a strong win,” Tindall said, “but next week, that’s going to be the deal. We’re ready for that one.”

At stake on Friday will be the Region 5-5A title. Beyond that, Tindall will face the postseason, the Shrine Bowl and the U.S. Army All-American Game, as well as a decision between nearly two dozen elite college teams.

According to Bacon, Tindall has handled it all with aplomb.

“I’ve been saying all year, he’s a great kid, a great teammate,” Bacon said. “He hasn’t let all this get to him, he plays hard, all his teammmates love him, he loves his teammates.”

Tindall credited his ability to stay focused and grounded on the field to his teammates.

“Most of my teammates, I’ve known them since I was in elementary school, middle school,” Tindall said. “We’ve been doing this since we were five years old. It’s just chemistry. That’s why we work together so well as a team probably. You can see that, when we score plays or whatever, we really get together.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 5:39 PM with the headline "For USC recruiting target Channing Tindall, awards and commitments can wait."