SIGNING DAY! | Athletes in the ETBlitz coverage area make their decisions official
National Signing Day has kind of turned into a lengthy celebration.
Maybe that’s fitting, honestly.
There are now two signing days, at least for the moment: an early signing day, as to which it’s referred, in December, and the traditional signing day, normally in early to mid February.
For almost all of the student athletes who sign those national letters of intent, it’s maybe the most important decision they’ve made so far in young lives: their college destination.
Kilgore football standout Jayden Sanders chose the University of Michigan back in December (actually, a verbal commit long before that), and made Wolverines fans very happy. Classmate Maleah Thurmond picked East Central, in Oklahoma, where she’ll continue her education and volleyball.
There were big decisions all over the ETBlitz.com coverage area this week – a few more coming on Thursday, and more still in the weeks to come, we’ve been told – but let’s celebrate now these young men and women who made their college choice on Wednesday.
TATUM
The earliest signing ceremony of the day in our area took place at Tatum High School, where three guys who are special to the school – and not just as athletes – took center stage.
Xavior Moore, Jordan Chambers and Luke Sigler each signed national letters of intent, Eagles moving on to the next chapter.
For Moore, it’ll be on the football field, as he continues his education and football career at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall.
Moore was a standout defensive lineman for coach Whitney Keeling’s Eagles, helping Tatum get back into the UIL Class 3A-Division I playoffs. He’s also had several postseason honors, among them a member of the 2024 All-ETBlitz.com Football Team.
Moore had 47 tackles, three sacks, two caused fumbles and a fumble recovery in 2024, and also, as a starter on the offensive line, graded out at 91 percent.
Jordan Chambers? He’s headed to Corsicana, where he’ll be a member of the Navarro College football team and continue his education. Navarro is, year-in and year-out, one of the top programs in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference alongside Kilgore College, Trinity Valley, Tyler Junior College and others. The competition is likely the nation’s best, alongside conferences in Mississippi, Iowa and Kansas.
Chambers, listed as a three-star on 247, stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 200 pounds, had interest from Louisiana Tech and Texas Tech, and has been a wide receiver for Keeling’s Eagles.
Now Sigler, he’s going a ways. Luke, a wide receiver and linebacker, signed Wednesday with the University of Texas Permian Basin, in Odessa, one of 33 signees for the Falcons – and 32 of the 33 are in-state recruits. UTPB went 7-5 overall and 6-3 in the Lone Star Conference in 2024, completing back-to-back winning seasons in ’23 and ’24 for the first time in program history.
Sigler’s signing was heralded on the Falcons’ football website with UTPB’s other signings, and he’s listed as a linebacker for UTPB.
Sigler had 50 tackles, 18 pass break-ups, three interceptions, four forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries for the Eagles in 2024. He made all-district first-team as a defensive back.
SABINE
Up next, there was a trip to Liberty City, to Sabine High School, to see the signings of seniors Allyssa Crutcher and of Cason Patterson, a couple of athletes who have been special to the Cardinals in their high school careers.
Introduced first by Sabine Athletic Director Cody Gilbert was Crutcher, a member of the girls’ golf team at SHS. Crutcher is headed to Cottey College, about a six-hour drive away in Nevada, Missouri.
Cottey is a private women’s college, and sports at Cottey compete in the American Midwest Conference.
The Comets competed well in the fall, playing in eight tournaments – and finishing in the top five in six of them. One of Crutcher’s future coaches at Cottey was on hand for the signing ceremony at Sabine on Wednesday, and said they plan for Crutcher to play a huge role on the team.
Right now, she’s planning on playing a huge role for her current team, the Lady Cardinals, coached by Phillip Anderson. High school golf season just began this week, and speaking of plans, Crutcher’s include going out with her team with a bang.
Then there was Patterson, introduced – and coached – by Gilbert. Patterson was a constant force for the Cardinals, and his leadership through tough times and love for the game of football has been evident in his career as an SHS student athlete, Gilbert noted.
Oklahoma Baptist is also a private university, in Shawnee, Okla., formerly known as The Baptist University of Oklahoma. Its mascot: The Bison. OBU football went 2-9 in 2024, so they’ll be looking at Patterson and his signing class to help them turn things around.
The Bison compete in the Great American Conference, with programs known here in East Texas, programs like Southern Arkansas University, Arkansas Tech, Northwestern Oklahoma State, Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist.
Patterson played running back and middle linebacker here for the Cardinals, and will fill one of those roles for OBU. Patterson led the Cardinals in rushing (508 yards on 133 carries) and had two touchdowns, and on defense, had 24 tackles and two interceptions.
KILGORE
Then, it was eight Kilgore Bulldogs seniors – some of them either in-season or about to be – signing national letters of intent Wednesday at the KHS gym.
Signing were Lady Bulldogs soccer standouts Reese Burgess, Angelica Canchola and Natalie Hudman, all with Dallas College-North Lake; Diamond ‘Dogs catcher Joseph Hendrickson, signing with Southern Arkansas University Tech; and four now former Bulldogs football standouts: Jackson Tucker Phillips, “JTP,” signing with Arkansas Tech University; Javon “JT” Towns, signing with Southeast Oklahoma University; Wylie Mitchell, signing with Trinity Valley Community College; and La’Perrion Graves, signing with East Texas Baptist University.
That’s a mouthful. Let’s focus on the individuals.
Burgess, Canchola and Hudman are still in season for coach Daniel Garcia’s Lady Bulldogs soccer team – and they’re leading District 15-4A, by the way. The trio have been instrumental, of course, in all of Kilgore’s playoff runs in the three previous seasons.
And they’re all headed to North Lake to continue their education and soccer careers.
The Lady ‘Dogs went 36-13-4 the last two seasons, reaching the regional tournament in 2023. As mentioned, they’re leading District 15-4A now, with a 5-0 district record, and already have wins over everyone in the district except Tatum and Center – they’ll face them in the next two games.
North Lake is in Irving, its mascot is the Blaze, and North Lake sports – women’s soccer and volleyball, and men’s basketball and baseball – compete in the Dallas Athletic Conference, which is a part of the NJCAA.
Hendrickson is also in season – actually, he’s about to be – with Kilgore High School baseball, where he’s been used primarily as a catcher the last couple of seasons, with great success. Hendrickson should play a big role for the Diamond ‘Dogs again this senior season under first-year head coach Zach Hubbard.
Southern Arkansas University Tech is in Camden, Arkansas, and also competes in junior college sports in NJCAA Region II.
Last year for the Bulldogs, in 82 plate appearances in 25 games, Joe had 14 hits, all singles, and an on-base percentage of .341. He had 140 put-outs, and a .953 fielding percentage over 151 innings.
Four players from Kilgore High School’s 2024 team that reached the 4A state title game are all on their way to the college level.
In short: four programs are getting phenomenal players.
Jackson Tucker Phillips, a defensive lineman for the Ragin’ Red, is headed to Arkansas Tech, and Tech is already getting attention. The Wonder Boys’ new head coach is Roy Thompson, who was announced as head coach in December.
And on the day after he was promoted, it was announced that Thompson won the American Football Coaches Association’s Division II Assistant Coach of the Year Award. He won the award as an assistant at Ouachita Baptist, as defensive coordinator there, holding opponents to 12 points a game and the 21st-ranked defense in the nation. Thompson helped Ouachita to a 10-2 record in 2024.
It sounds like Arkansas Tech, whose sports compete in the Great American Conference, is in good hands – and we know that in signing Kilgore’s Jackson Tucker Phillips, they’re getting a good one, a member of the All-ETBlitz.com Football Team’s first-team defensive line.
Straight from Kilgore football, these numbers for JTP: 76 tackles, 47 solo, six for loss, three sacks, two pass break-ups and eight quarterback hurries.
Towns, who did a little bit of everything for coach Clint Fuller’s Bulldogs as a wide receiver, defensive back and returner, is headed to Southeast Oklahoma University in Durant. Towns is listed in a feature on the Savage Storm’s website as a defensive back.
Towns is a former Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Player of the Week, and on defense, finished with 87 tackles, 48 solo, two for loss, two interceptions (one for a touchdown), and 11 pass break-ups.
On offense, Towns finished with 50 catches for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns; had four games with over 100 yards receiving in each; and caught at least four passes in seven games for the Ragin’ Red.
The Storm compete in the Great American Conference, as well.
Wylie Mitchell joined JTP as part of that outstanding Kilgore defensive line, and now he’ll take his talents to Athens, where he’ll add to an already-talented Trinity Valley program, typically one of the best in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference. TVCC normally spends time ranked in the nation’s top 20, as it did in 2024, and is one of Kilgore College’s most challenging games just about every season.
Mitchell finished with 103 tackles, 45 solo, nine for loss, five sacks, two pass break-ups, a caused fumble and a fumble recovery, and far and away led the team with 16 quarterback hurries.
And then there’s Graves, who led the Bulldogs in tackles in 2024. He’s going to ETBU in Marshall.
ETBU competes in the American Southwest Conference, an NCAA Division III school. The Tigers’ usual opponents in conference play are programs like Mary Hardin-Baylor, Howard Payne, and Hardin-Simmons; it’s a difficult schedule. But ETBU went 6-4 in 2024.
Graves has a big motor. The linebacker for KHS led the team with 160 tackles, 82 solo, and nine for loss; he had two sacks, three pass break-ups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery, and 11 hurries.
GILMER
Wednesday afternoon, the Gilmer Buckeyes had themselves a signing party, as well.
Three Buckeyes from coach Alan Metzel’s 2023 4A-Division II state championship team are moving on to the collegiate level: Lucas Cano, highly decorated in football and track and opting for the collegiate track route; wide receiver / linebacker Brendan Webb, receiver / quarterback Cadon Tennison; and offensive linemen Justin Anderson, Felipe Rocha and Isaac Hubbard.
And Tennison and Anderson are becoming Rangers.
That’s right: Tennison, who was the starting quarterback for Gilmer’s state title team and played several different positions in 2024, is coming to Kilgore College to suit up for coach Willie Gooden and the Rangers.
KC had won back-to-back SWJCFC championships in 2022 and 2023, and did reach the conference playoffs in 2024, but were upset by Tyler Junior College.
Tennison caught 24 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns in the 2024 season. He also had 120 yards and two scores on 28 carries, and completed 14-of-27 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in just a small bit of time at quarterback in ’24.
Anderson, Hubbard and Rocha were key members of a Buckeyes’ offensive line that helped the team throw for 2,415 yards and 19 touchdowns, and 2,151 rushing yards (179 a game) and 33 touchdowns.
Webb signed with Northwestern State in Nachitoches, Louisiana, where he’ll become a member of the Demon Deacons.
Webb’s profile was already up on the Northwestern State football website on Wednesday, quite a long profile, actually, where it listed Webb’s accolades in football, but also points out that he was a four-year letterman in track (and a state qualifier in the high jump) and a two-year letterman in basketball.
Northwestern State has been the home of more than a few quality football players from East Texas over the years, including a pair of former Kilgore Bulldogs – Blayne Cole and Jonathan Hubbard – that did quite well for themselves.
The Demon Deacons compete in the Southland Conference, along with Stephen F. Austin, Nicholls and Lamar, among others, and will make a handful of appearances on ESPN+, ESPN’s live-streaming service, in the 2025 season.
In 2024 alone, Webb caught 50 passes for 727 yards and nine touchdowns; ran for 65 yards and a score; had 32 total tackles and three interceptions. In Gilmer’s state title year in 2023, he had 50 tackles, five interceptions and was the most valuable player in the state title game.
Cano is a thrower for Gilmer track, and helped the Buckeyes win the 4A team title, edging out Aubrey, at the UIL State Track & Field Championships at the University of Texas in Austin back in 2023.
Cano finished third in the state in discus that season (167 feet, six inches at the state meet), and then last year, finished second in the state, only to Kilgore’s Braydon Nelson, in discus, a best of 182 feet, five inches.
He’s heading to the University of Texas at Arlington.
