Why several stars are missing from South Carolina’s Shrine Bowl roster this week
Practice for this week’s Shrine Bowl all-star game began Monday at Spartanburg High School with several key players missing from the South Carolina squad.
The Sandlappers team was without eight players originally picked for the game that pits top S.C. seniors against their counterparts from North Carolina. Most of those who opted out of the game are instead joining their college teams for bowl practices.
Players who were selected for but won’t take part in the Shrine Bowl include University of South Carolina signees Cutter Woods, Jayden Sellers and Malik Clark, Clemson signee Amare Adams and N.C. State signees Will Wilson and Cam Strong.
USC is expected to start bowl practice this week in preparation for the Dec. 31 Cheez-it Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
“To be able to go to college early and practice with your team is a no-brainer,” Woods, the Westside High quarterback, said after Friday’s Class 4A championship game against South Florence.
Signees who’ve met graduation requirements can practice with their respective college teams early but can’t actually play in a bowl game.
The Shrine Bowl is played at 1 p.m. Saturday at Spartanburg High.
Woods, Clark and Wilson all are finalists for South Carolina’s Mr. Football honor, which will be awarded during halftime of Saturday’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl, another all-star game that’s held annually in Myrtle Beach.
The Touchstone Energy Bowl is feeling the effects from the Shrine Bowl’s roster losses. All but one of the eight replacements in the Shrine Bowl came from the roster of the Myrtle Beach game.
Two players are out of the Shrine Bowl because of injuries: Dutch Fork defender and USC signee Josh Smith, and Belton-Honea Path’s Marquise Henderson, a Clemson signee.
Abbeville defensive back Demarcus Leach and Gaffney offensive lineman Shed Surratt — two USC signees who were picked for the Shrine Bowl — both thought about skipping the game to join the Gamecocks but wanted one more high school football experience.
“I just want to live out my high school career,” Leach said after helping Abbeville win the Class A championship on Thursday. “I talked to my coaches about it and they were with OK me playing in the Shrine Bowl. They told me I have plenty of time to play in South Carolina. You don’t have too much time left in high school, so enjoy it while you can.”
Rosters for both the Shrine Bowl and Touchstone Energy Bowl are announced in October, and it’s not uncommon for either game to need replacements because of injuries or personal situations that come up. But this is the first year this many players opted out in favor of bowl practice with their college teams.
“They got my blessing, the kids that opted out and chose to move on,” S.C. team head coach Reggie Kennedy said. “It is a little disappointing, but at the same time they’ve got to do what is best for them and their family. We can’t let it affect the game. We’ve still got to coach the game, and the kids we got to replace them will do a good job.”
Kennedy said he hopes this doesn’t become a trend in future Shrine Bowls.
“Let’s hope they address it and move forward. Hopefully, college coaches will encourage their kids to be part of this game,” Kennedy said.
Scott Earley, the S.C. Athletic Coaches Association executive director, oversees the Touchstone Energy Bowl game, which features players exclusively from South Carolina.
The Touchstone Energy Bowl was able to find replacement players for its rosters. The Shrine Bowl doesn’t typically pull anyone from the Myrtle Beach game unless it’s because of a player injury.
“If we would have known about this, we could handle it better,” Earley said. “Next year, look for some rule changes that will be in place that could prevent it in the future.”
Hurricane Helene forced the end of high school football seasons in both Carolinas to be moved back a week. Normally, the Touchstone Energy Bowl would have been played last week.
South Carolina just wrapped up its state championships. Meanwhile, North Carolina’s Shrine Bowl team will be missing some players because their state championship games are this week.
There have been talks about moving the Shrine Bowl and Touchstone Energy Bowl to the same weekend and the same location. Earley said those discussions could resume again next year.
“We will just try and set up to run the best all-star games we can this week for the kids,” he said.
