Battery Creek’s Smalls, WB’s Broxton honored
By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
The South Carolina Football Coaches Association has released their all-state teams for 2024, and Battery Creek’s Derrick Smalls Jr. and Whale Branch’s Tony Braxton Jr. are among a total of 17 players from the Lowco coverage area who made the cut.
Smalls had a sensational senior season for the Dolphins, making major contributions in all phases of the game, but he made his biggest impact in the return game and was picked for the Class 3A all-state team as a kick returner. Smalls had six combined kickoff and punt return touchdowns, helping Battery Creek to a 3-7 record following a winless 2023 campaign and matching the program’s highest win total since a four-win season in 2017.
Broxton was one of the brightest spots in an up-and-down season in Seabrook, as the 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior emerged as the latest in a long line of defensive line prospects coming out of Whale Branch. He collected 30 tackles, including 12 tackles for loss and three sacks, along with a fumble recovery.
The Class 4A team included 11 combined players from Hilton Head High (4), May River (4), and Bluffton (3). Hampton County had three representatives on the Class 2A team, while Battery Creek (3A), Whale Branch (2A), and Ridgeland (1A) each had one player honored.
Here’s a look at all the all-state honorees from the Lowco.
SCFCA All-State Teams
CLASS 4A
Zavier Polite | DL | MR
Chris Doyle | DL | BLF
Hudson Flanagan | LB | MR
Tristen Simmons | DB | HHH
AJ Hamilton | DB | MR
Aedan McCarthy | ATH | BLF
William Bonneville | OL | MR
Evan Wilder | OL | HHH
Troy Timko | RB | HHH
Carson Haines | WR | HHH
Carnell Warren | WR | BLF
CLASS 3A
Derrick Smalls Jr. | KR | BC
CLASS 2A
Tony Broxton Jr. | DL | WB
Mandrell Sanders | LB | HC
Tyler Davis | DB | HC
Jaylen Singletary | RB | HC
CLASS 1A
Wenson Smith | RB | RIDG
