MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Five high school seniors from across South Carolina are in the running for the state top individual football honor, and the winner will be revealed Dec. 12 at halftime of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl, the senior all-star game played in Myrtle Beach.
The South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association named its 2026 Mr. Football finalists this week: Dutch Fork defensive lineman Jaden Wuerth, Byrnes running back Tre Segarra, Northwestern quarterback Xavier Means, Gaffney linebacker Kendaris Bailey and Summerville running back Jayven Williams.
The award goes each year to the top senior at a public high school in the state, and voters weigh what a player does off the field as well as on it.
Wuerth, a 6-foot-3, 275-pound Clemson commitment, anchors the defensive front for an unbeaten Dutch Fork team. He chose the Tigers in the spring over offers that included Miami, Penn State and South Carolina, and he is set to play in the Shrine Bowl.
Williams has run for more than 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns this fall for 6-3 Summerville and is already the school all-time leading rusher with more than 5,000 career yards and 65 career touchdowns. The James Madison commitment is trying to become the first Summerville player to win the award in its 36-year history.
Last fall Segarra piled up better than 1,400 rushing yards, and he has pledged to LSU. Means is headed to East Carolina, and he and Bailey, a four-year starter at Gaffney, both made the Shrine Bowl roster.
No Lowcountry player has taken the trophy since 2017.
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