Four Perry High School Seniors Sign to Play College Ball

PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Four seniors from Perry High School are set to begin the next chapter of their lives playing college football. Some are staying close to home, but others are traveling as far as North Dakota.

These signatures mark the first words of a new chapter for these Perry High School seniors.

“It’s a new start for me that I got to make and just had to sign a paper,” AJ Riley said.

It’s a paper that Riley, who plays safety, couldn’t wait to sign. He’s joining the Coffeyville Community College Red Ravens in Kansas. His mother says she’ll miss him more he’ll miss her.

“That’s my baby,” Lashown White, Riley’s mother, said. “It is a big step where he is going, but it’s a great opportunity for him.”

Center Joe Rucker showed off his school spirit as he committed to play football for Georgia Military College. He’s dreamed of playing college ball forever and can’t wait to hit the field and new opponents.

“I just like to hit people actually,” Rucker said. “I don’t like to be mean, but on the football field I get kind of mean.”

His proud mother also says he likes to hit the food.

“He’s always excited when there’s food around, so I just hope the college has a really big lunchroom and a lot of food,” Sherry Rucker said.

North Dakota State College of Sciences welcomed outside linebacker Marquez Thomas. It will be a big change for him and his family, but he says he’s ready for it.

“It’s going to be very cold up there and I’ll have to get used to negative five degree weather and all that snow,” Thomas said.

“I’m glad and I’m sad that he’s going so far, but I know I’m going to visit and I know he’s coming home,” Martha Thomas, Marquez’s mother, said.

Quarterback Deonte Solomon will join West Georgia Technical College’s football team. The Golden Knights are looking forward to his new leadership.

“Ican’t have a breakdown. Any time your team is in trouble, you have to have a positive attitude, always,” Solomon said.

And his father will cheer him on, no matter where the games take him.

“Itll be at every one. I think they’re going to Arkansas, Mississippi. It’ll be a challenge,” Reynard Solomon said.

It’s a new challenge and a new chapter these Panthers are ready to take on.

Head football coach Stacey Harden tells 41 NBC he’s proud of his players. He says he knows they’ll succeed both on the football field and in their future careers.