Pike Road signing party includes athletes in football, baseball, cross country and soccer

By TIM GAYLE

PIKE ROAD -- As one of the area’s top defensive players, Rufus Boone had his share of Division I-A football offers.

Then, on the first play of a September game with Wetumpka, Boone tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Suddenly, he went from weighing his collegiate offers to hoping he would receive one.

“I thought it was over,” Boone admitted. “My friends and my coaches kept telling me it’s not over, just a minor setback for a major comeback.”

Boone was one of the area’s top linebackers as a junior and expected to make a huge impact with the Patriots before the injury caused him to reevaluate everything.

“I was a little big-headed because I came off a great season my 11th grade year,” Boone said. “I had to realize that everything is meant to be, that whatever happens happens.”

On Wednesday, he was one of nine Pike Road players participating in a signing ceremony in the Pike Road gym, grateful for the offer from Huntingdon College to continue his collegiate career.

“It feels good,” he said. “It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished a lifelong dream.”

Boone is one of four Pike Road players signing with colleges, joining fellow Huntingdon signee Braiden Watkins and Miles College signees Josh Robinson and Derrick Wilson.

“Proud is an understatement for these guys, especially a guy like Rufus Boone who endured and overcame such a big setback,” Pike Road coach Granger Shook said. “He got injured really in the season, had several DI offers but the good Lord had a plan for him to play at Huntingdon College and I really anticipate him being a leader there and to make a big impact really, really soon.”

Those four join early signees Miles Khatri, Ja’Michael Jones, Braylon Outlaw and Jordan Holmes, who signed with Power 4 programs in November.

Other Pike Road signees honored on Wednesday include James Brooks, who signed with Faulkner University’s cross country team, and Blake Moses, who signed with the Eagles in baseball. Willa Kennedy signed with Huntingdon College to play soccer, Elaisa Vazquez signed with Gadsden State Community College to play volleyball and state champion golfer Beka Yang signed with Samford.