Cherokee County football players sign NLIs

Nine Cherokee County football players put pen to paper Wednesday, signing their national letters of intent to join collegiate football programs.

Etowah led the way with three signees, followed by Creekview, River Ridge and Sequoyah with two.

Etowah kicker Carson Allen made one of the biggest splashes, signing with a Southeastern Conference school in Mississippi State. He was a five-star kicker as rated by Kohl’s Kicking, and he was the No. 42-ranked kicker in the class of 2023.

"Signing day has been a day that I have looked forward to for a while now," Allen said. "Being committed for a while, it relieved a lot of stress by putting the pen to paper. The experience at signing day was amazing, really was nice to see the Etowah family support me going into college. College football will be challenging, but why would you do something in life if it is going to be easy. You don’t grow if you aren’t challenged."

Etowah also had two defensive backs sign Wednesday, with Frank Mosley going to West Virginia State and Jamir Maxime to Reinhardt. Mosley finished the 2022 season with 60 tackles, while Maxime added 37 tackles and two interceptions.

“Signing day has been one of the most exciting days in my football career, and seeing all the support from my school and teammates is what made this day so heartfelt,” Mosley said. “I’m more than excited to play in the next level and see how my game will transfer.”

Sequoyah also had a pair of defensive backs sign in Cantrell Davis (Tuskegee) and Ridley Joseph (Concordia-St. Paul). The duo helped propel the Chiefs back into the playoffs in 2022 and were key factors in a defensive surge from Sept 9-29, where they allowed just 9.3 points per game.

“(It was) truly a blessing,” said Davis, who recorded 29 tackles this past season. “Words can not even begin to explain it.”

Joseph finished the year with 18 tackles.

"Signing day was great," he said. "I'm very blessed to be in the position I am today, to think the first time I ever put a jersey on was freshman year and now to see the running success I've achieved so far is amazing can't wait to keep growing as a man and an athlete these next four years at Concordia St.Paul."

Creekview, offensive/defensive lineman Anthony Caraballo inked his letter with Huntingdon, while fullback/defensive lineman Jacob Hefner signed as a preferred walk-on at Furman.

Defensive lineman Ethan Anderson (Warner) and offensive lineman Reed Albers (Centre) were River Ridge’s signees. Anderson erupted for a county-best 14.5 tackles for loss this season, along with a second-best nine sacks. Albers provided a stable presence along the offensive line.

Woodstock did not have any signees Wednesday, though it had two players sign with Division I programs during the early signing period in Adonis Garcia (Wofford) and Tyler Douthit (Samford).

Cherokee is expected to have two players sign on a later date in Kyan Simmons and Ryane Martin. Simmons, the reigning Cherokee County Defensive Player of the Year, had a county-best 11 sacks and finished second with 103 tackles.