CALLAHAN, Fla. – Two West Nassau football players signed Wednesday but a third one was right there with them.
Michael Thorn and AJ Miller put the pen to paper to lock in their college destinations and remembered a former Warriors teammate who was there only in spirit and pictures.
In a perfect world, Trenton Fort would have been sitting next to them and enjoying the moment.
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This was Miller and Thorn’s signing day. It was supposed to be Fort’s, too, except that he was shot and killed Feb. 24, 2020. Then a 16-year-old sophomore, Fort was a player Thorn said he grew up with and everyone loved. West Nassau coach Rickey Armstrong said that he was thrilled with Miller and Thorn (UNC Pembroke) signing, but said that Fort was missed.
And it was difficult to think about what might have been.
“I mean, Trent’d probably be up there signing with them also. He had good grades and had done the right things and he was the size that probably [would appeal to colleges]. He was getting some attention back when he was a sophomore,” Armstrong said. “So, he would have been up there, too. And we hate that. Trent one of the ones that I wish we had here.”
Thorn, who signed with Fordham, honored Fort with a picture on the table and accepted a scholarship from his former teammate’s family.
“That’s kind of all I was thinking about. And I wanted to say but I didn’t want to, you know, bring out any tears. He should have been out there signing with me and AJ,” Thorn said.
“This was me and his senior year. I mean, he’d been going to school in the Nassau County system since like he was in fifth grade and then tragically was taken two years ago. So yeah, I thought I’d honor him, have his picture up there because he deserved to be out there.”
Fort’s family started a scholarship in his honor. Recipients receive $521 — Fort’s jersey number was 21 — and help carry on his name to the next level.
Last year, Carson Murray and Chaz Davis received the scholarship. This year, Thorn and fellow offensive lineman Ethan Arn received the scholarships. Fort’s mother, Paige Hall, said the signing day was bittersweet.
“I’m very proud of the scholarships that we’re able to give out to the students every year. I’m very proud of the foundation. It’s coming along. I’m proud that his name continues to live on in legacy,” she said.
“I love seeing them honor his legacy. I love seeing the numbers on the shirts and the numbers on their chains. This year was a rough year for all the boys that played football with him because they knew it would be the senior year, so it was bittersweet.”
Creekside’s McCoy picks ‘Canes
Creekside offensive tackle Matthew McCoy went into signing day as the top undecided area recruit. He had Florida and Miami among his final two choices and went with the Hurricanes.
A first for Jackson
It has already been a very successful season on Main Street for Jackson. The boys and girls basketball teams won Gateway Conference titles. And with six football players signing Wednesday, the pigskin production isn’t backing off anytime soon. If anything, the presence of major recruit, LB Grayson Howard, only enforces just how much attention is head Jackson’s way in the coming year.
But the program did manage a first on Wednesday — its first signee in flag football.
Adayjah Gadson signed with Bryant & Stratton College, becoming the first signee in that sport from the school.
Record haul at Bolles
Athletic director Matt Morris has been in front of the microphone for plenty of signing day events, but never one this big.
The Bulldogs had 32 athletes for the signing day event, all but two of those signing Wednesday. Football players Bradley Mann and Reed Collins signed in the early period last December but were alongside their teammates in the gym. That made it a blockbuster signing class, even for Bolles’ lofty standards.
Among the signees were 14 total swimmers, including the All-News4JAX girls swimmer of the year, Fresh Sathianchokwisan (Texas A&M). Ten different sports were represented.
Big day for female wrestlers
Clay High’s Madisyn Blackburn and Westside’s Emma “Dakota” Smith made it a memorable National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
Blackburn and Smith, both female wrestlers, signed with Brewton Parker College on Wednesday’s national signing day. While area female wrestlers have signed with college programs in previous years, this was a bit different.
The signing came on a milestone day — the 50th anniversary of Title IX becoming law. And it comes as the girls individual bracket tournament — the first in Florida High School Athletic Association history — approaches. Previously, girls had the wrestle against boys in high school come tournament time, or compete in a separate, third-party event. Now, girls have their own individual tournament just like the boys.