The first drive of South Carolina wide receiver commit Landon Samson's 2021 season couldn't have gone any better.

Playing in a high school football showcase on ESPNU Thursday night, the first drive for Southlake (Texas) Carroll looked like this: three plays for three Samson receptions including a 71-yard catch and run for a touchdown.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder, who committed to South Carolina in late June, caught a short pass on a hitch off an RPO then made a defender miss and showed off his speed as he raced to the end zone to give his team a 7-0 lead.

Samson and his Southlake team went on to defeat Highland Park 45-21.

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Later in the second half, Samson got open deep, sprinting past his man to the middle of the field and collecting a 41-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kaden Anderson. Anderson replaced former No. 1 overall prospect Quinn Ewers who earlier this month enrolled a full year early at Ohio State.

Samson finished with five catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns, all part of a first-half explosion. In the second half, Southlake spread the ball around more while taking to the ground to pound out the win with a big lead.

"I was just super excited to finally lock it in and go with the Gamecocks," Samson told Gamecock Central back when he committed. "I went on a Zoom with a bunch of the staff. "It was only supposed to be an hour and it ended up lasting 2.5 hours, because I had so many questions and I was really interested in the program. It really just felt like home talking with the staff and learning more about the city and what the state offers and how the school is. It really just felt like home sitting there talking to everybody."

Since committing, Samson and his entire family took an unofficial visit to the program in July.

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