While the traditional National Signing Day, the first Wednesday of February, has lost a bit of luster in the past decade or so, due to a new earlier December signing day and the new presence of the transfer portal, this week still marked a special day in the lives of five football players and a baseball player at Osceola and Tohopekaliga High School. On Wednesday at
On Wednesday at Osceola, safety Kaylon "KK" Walters (Charleston Southern), receiver Christian Combs (Allen University), and linebacker Elijah Peters (Webber) signed their National Letters of Intent. They join quarterback
They join quarterback Chad Mascoe Jr., (Campbell) and cornerback Jeremiah Wilson (Syracuse), who signed in December.
“Their patience has paid off,” Kowboys Coach Eric Pinellas said. “Recruiting now is crazy. Colleges are only signing 20 percent of their players out of high schools.
“I know with Kaylon, Charleston Southern said they were interested in him back in the spring, they figured an FBS school would pick him up, and here we are.”
Walters, who made 31 tackles his senior year, picked off two passes and broke up four others, was ready to sign in December but waited for the process to get clearer these last two months. He said he can’t wait to get to Charleston (S.C.), Southern, an FCS member of the Southern Conference — meaning he’ll be competing against Mascoe at Campbell.
“I like to compete against people better than me,” he said. “I’m ready for that. The biggest adjustment for me will be the travel going hours to play somebody. But I’m a better person and better man for playing at Osceola.”
Combs will attend Allen, a rising Division II school in Columbia, S.C., for the opportunity to play both football (at receiver) and basketball (at guard).
“I love both sports, I grew up playing both,” he said, noting he’ll play wide receiver and be a sixth-man guard for the Yellow Jackets.
“His athleticism jumps off the video,” Pinellas said of Combs, who caught 17 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns his senior year while playing cornerback earlier in his Kowboy career.
Peters, who made 20 tackles at linebacker in 2021, will stay in Florida and play for the Webber International Warriors, an NAIA member of The Sun Conference. Pinellas called his story
Pinellas called his story a case of “when preparation meets opportunity.”
“Elijah played behind some great linebackers and waited his turn, and took advantage of the time he did play,” the coach said.
The Florida native came down to two home-state schools, Webber in Lake Wales and St. Thomas University in Miami
“I waited, just like I did here to play, to decide,” he said. “Webber is my best opportunity.”
Tohopekaliga, football players Cameron Selfe (Elmhurst University) and Kam Davis-Roberts (St. Thomas) and baseball player Sheffield (Keystone College) signed college grants Thursday.
Selfe, the Tigers’ punter and kickoff specialist the last two seasons for Coaches Marc Deas and Jeff Higgins, will head to the Division III school outside of Chicago that plays in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.
“I couldn’t be more happy to have played with the coaches and players I’ve met. I wouldn’t be in this position without them and my family.”
Davis-Roberts assumed the starting quarterback spot for the Tigers in 2021 early in the year, and never relinquished it. He also played defensive back and was a return specialist; he hardly left the field.
“He never told a coach, ‘No, I can’t go in,” Tigers Athletic Director Lonnie Flores said. “He did it for the team. He’s a prime example of what he’s focused on, representing the name on the front before the name on the back.”
Davis-Roberts said the St. Thomas Bobcats, located in Miami Gardens and also in the Sun Conference, are bringing him in to play quarterback with opportunities at other positions.
“I thank them for that opportunity, and the chance to play here for the friends I’ve made,” h e said.
Fisher Sheffield, a four-year player for Coach Nikko Martell’s Tiger baseball program — he wore the orange and blue since Day 1 of the school in 2018 — will go to Keystone in Factoryville, Pa., a small town in the northwest part of the state.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment since he started as a catcher as a freshman,” Martell said of the pitcher. “He’s taken pride in the craft of pitching. Fisher was going to play ball somewhere, or go wherever he wanted to go for a career because of his grades. I just knew this day would come, which is a really good feeling as a coach. And I take no credit for this, he’s got the most supportive family I’ve seen.”
Far more players from Osceola County have, or will be, signing college scholarships in the coming weeks, and continuing their playing careers at the next level with scholarships that will pay for their education.
Coaches: please send word of their signings, along with signing ceremony photos, for eventual inclusion in our paper.
