Socastee has won 19 straight regular season games with Renfrow leading the
Socastee offense. The Braves have lived in the shadow of rivals Myrtle Beach and
Conway for decades, but with Hunter they are at the top of the mountain when it
comes to Grand Strand football thanks to four straight wins over the Seahawks
and Tigers. He runs the option like a doctor doing surgery on a defense. It's a
combination of elusiveness and speed that makes him He's a nightmare for
opposing coaches, but you'll find every one of them heaping praise on the
reigning WPDE Zoneman winner. I can go into our archives right now and come up
with a top ten list of Hunter Renfrow highlights, but I found the best highlight
in our WPDE Studio last Friday night.
The Braves had just beaten archrival Myrtle Beach 37-21 and earned a trip
to our studio as the SONIC Game of the Week. First year head coach Doug Illing
handed Hunter an HTC Game Ball for his 249 yards combined passing and rushing
and three TD's in the win. Here's a high school senior, on live television
surrounded by his teammates, coaches and cheerleaders. He could have taken a
moment to bask in the glow, but instead took the spotlight and shined it
somewhere else.
You won't find a more thankless job than running balls to officials and
hustling out water to players. It's easy to think that it's not all that
important in the grand scheme of things. But Hunter Renfrow gets it. Robbie
Bennett IS Socastee athletics. He works a tireless job in the background and is
an important part of the Braves community. The guy who is in the shadows more
than anyone else, was thrusted into the spotlight by the star of the team. An
assistant coach leaned into me on the way out of the studio and said, "He came
up with that all on his own", referring to his impromptu Game Ball
audible.
Hunter Renfrow is the "Johnny Football" of the Grand Strand. He's got the
Zoneman, Johnny Manziel has the Heisman. The way Manziel handled his off the
field life post-Heisman is a cautionary tale of how one handles the spotlight
and great success. Hunter Renfrow is handling his Zoneman success just
fine.
The big schools haven't come knocking on Renfrow's door. He could run the
triple option at Georgia Tech or he could be a slot receiver and dangerous
return man at Clemson, the school he wants to attend. The FBS schools may get
caught up in the numbers game when it comes to height and weight and miss out.
That would be great news for a number of FCS programs that have already made
offers. College coaches are well aware that it takes so much more than pure
physical ability to succeed in college football. Looks can be deceiving. High
school kids aren't supposed to be giving an adult life lessons. That's exactly
what happened on Friday night when Hunter Renfrow reminded me that selfless is
so much better than selfish. Thanks, Zoneman.
