Prep stars emerge on gridiron

It's way too early in the high school football season to start hyping players for the All-Columbia County team, but some stars definitely are emerging on the gridiron.

And, some of the early standouts are young players who are making surprisingly large contributions for their squad.

Here are a few underclassmen who appear to have big careers ahead of them:

Orlando Pollard, Greenbrier sophomore. Pollard has been one of the county's best players so far this season. The elusive tailback rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the Wolfpack's first three games, while averaging 119 yards per game and 6.1 yards a carry.

Pollard and backfield teammates Justin Jennings and Tyler Dent (two more sophomores) could form a very special trio before they're finished at the Brierpatch.

Kai-Cheng Ho, Evans sophomore. Similar to Pollard, Ho is an extremely talented sophomore tailback. The Pack saw his ability first hand, as Ho rushed for 120 yards in just over one half of action in the Knights' season-opening loss at Greenbrier.

Ho hits the hole hard and doesn't go down easily, despite his small stature.

Dixon Revell, Lakeside sophomore. For such a young player, Revell is incredibly aggressive and seems to have great instincts on the field. He is always around the football at his safety position. Revell weighs in at 170 lbs., and he certainly will put on some weight. When he does, he could turn out to be a good college prospect.

Those are three players who have really stood out to me this season, but there are some other rising young players, such as Harlem's Jon Rickerson. This is another sophomore who will be a star for the Bulldogs before he's through.

In addition to the players already mentioned, the Evans, Lakeside and Greenbrier rosters are all loaded with sophomores, and some impressive freshmen.

Along with all the youngsters, four of the five county squads have juniors starting at quarterback.

For those reasons, the next two years could be very lucrative for Columbia County's prep football teams.

It's easy to see why I'm so excited about the future of Columbia County football.