It was a day of joyous celebration for many schools on Wednesday as faculty, families and friends gathered on National Signing Day to watch some of their senior football players sign on the dotted line to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level. Here are some of the Golden Triangle athletes making the leap.
West Point
West Point, the Class 5A runners-up, kicked off its signing day celebration a day early on Tuesday with seven members of the Green Wave announcing where they’ll be playing next year.
Justin White, a three-year starter and First-Team All-Region wide receiver, is headed to Northeast Mississippi Community College and will be joined by fellow teammate and signee Tytus Davidson, a defensive lineman who landed First-Team All-State honors. Davidson said he wasn’t sure at first where he was going to go, but once he talked to some of the coaches at Northeast and visited the campus, he knew he found his next home.
“At first I was thinking about, like, ‘Would this be the place where I see myself playing and does this place have the same standards that my team has now,’” Davidson said. “I felt they had the standard and everything and I fell in love with it. Now I’m just ready to go.”
Aiden Brooks, an offensive lineman who also was a First-Team All-State selection, announced his commitment to Northwest Mississippi Community College.
“It felt like home,” Brooks said of choosing Northwest. “It’s somewhere I could be comfortable at and it feels just like a (Division I) school. They treated me like I’m one of their own.”
Issac Warren, another Green Wave offensive lineman, declared he is taking his talents to Itawamba Community College. Defensive back Kasavion Shelton, another First-Team All-State selection, is headed to Scooba to play at East Mississippi Community College and he’s joined by Class 5A Mr. Football selection and defensive lineman Jorden Rush.
Dee Haughton, a defensive lineman and 5A Defensive Player of the Year honoree, signed with Coahoma Mississippi Community College. A total of nine seniors have moved on from the Green Wave to college. Quarterback Colt Whitacre and athlete Quintin Thompson both graduated early and have already joined their respective programs. Whitacre is at Northeast, and Thompson is at Pearl River Community College.
Starkville
Starkville also saw seven depart their football program to head to the college level, with Coahoma getting the commitments of four Yellow Jackets: cornerback Kylin Boyd, linebacker Kaesen McQuiller, running back A’braylen Jenkins and wide receiver Davis Harrelson.
Offensive lineman Kylan Sherrod signed with Belhaven University, Jamarion Reese committed to Hinds Community College to play for former Starkville head coach Chris Jones and team manager Hayes Montfort is headed to Northwest for the same position.
New Hope
Three players from New Hope announced their commitments. Brothers and linemen Micah Butler and Tariq Butler both are headed to the next level. Micah signed to play at Northwest while Tariq is headed to EMCC. Athlete Jeremiah Harkins announced he’s joining Micah as a Ranger, something he’s excited to do.
“It’s good,” Harkins said of getting to play in college with a high school teammate. “(Micah) is somebody I can talk to who I already know from high school. That’s good. That’s somebody I grew up with throughout middle school and stuff like that.”
Heritage Academy
The Patriots, the MAIS Class 4A Division II runners-up, had four players announce their football commitments on Wednesday with two going to Division-I FCS teams.
Xzavier Webber, a wide receiver and defensive back at Heritage, signed with Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., and tight end/defensive end Dallas Davis joins him at the Division-1 level with a commitment to the University of Central Arkansas. Lineman Silas Knight signed with Copiah-Lincoln Community College, and fellow lineman Austin Stumpf committed to East Central Community College.
Noxubee County
The Class 3A runners-up had three players sign Wednesday, two of whom are headed to Hinds.
Somaji Brandon and Donvon Conner will continue their careers together with the Eagles, while linebacker Bennett Payton joins the Lions in Scooba at EMCC.
West Lowndes
Big man Eli Sanders held down the fort for the Panthers’ football team on the offensive line all season, and on Wednesday he announced that he will continue his career at East Central Mississippi Community College.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
