Early Football Signing Day Recap

welcome back everybody...every sport had it except for football.. until this year... the first ever early signing period for athletes hoping to continue their football careers opened today and will run through friday...we begin our day at snider....where three star defensive tackle lawrence johnson officially put pen to paper to continue his football career in state and in the big ten with purdue....as a senior, johnson recorded 50 tackles including seven for a loss and three sacks...johnson committed to the boilermakers back in june and he says he's excited to continue his career in west lafayette.... johnson: "it's really special, you know, you work really hard for something that seems out of reach. some kids it's out of reach to them, and just keep working hard every day and you achieve a goal that you set out as a young kid, and it's just so special to me and family, and we just saved a lot of money, really, on college, and i'm just blessed to even be here. they have a great d-line, but they're losing a couple guys up front. and i feel like i can go in and compete my first year. if i work hard, i can compete for playing time my first year, and i just wanna take my leadership that i learned from snider football and take it up to west lafayette." but johnson wasn't the only panther who signed today...he was joined by senior austin france... france officially signing with western michigan out of the mac...as a senior linebacker, france recorded 76 tackles with five for a loss and 2 sacks...but he will take on an added role as a defensive end for the broncos next season on top of his linebacker duties.... france: "i'm gonna play like more defensive line than i did in high school. but my role's really not changing that much i'm playing linebacker and defensive end. i'm, i mean not really concerned, like, a little nervous, but other than that, i'm going to work hard just like everybody else. now that i've signed, i'm a college athlete just like all the other college athletes out there, so it's just about work, work ethic." over to homestead now.. couple more guys signing to go from the sac to the mac.dual-threat quarterback jiya wright taking his talents to northern illinois university.wright threw for over 2,300 yards and 28 touchdowns on his way to being recognized as the s-a-c's top senior football player in 2017.and oh by the way, he rushed for over seven bills and 11 td's during his senior year as well. 3 meanwhile, jiya's former high school teammate and buddy tico brown now becomes a conference rival. the big defensive tackle followed through on his commitment to central michigan university earlier today.brown finished his career at homestead with 39 tackles for loss, and 21 and a half sacks.. he helped lead sparty to eight wins or more in each of his four seasons wearing the blue and gold. 3 and last but not least we finish at east noble high school where senior quarterback andrew mccormick put pen to paper and signed with indiana state to continue his football career... mccormick led the knights to a co-ne-8 title while passing for two thousand 952 yards and 32 total touchdowns...he'll join a i-s-u team that has struggled.. and other schools did try to sway his decision late, but he says his heart stayed with the sycamores mccormick: "the new coaching staff coming in, they're a winning group of guys. they all know each other, they were at michigan when michigan won the sugar bowl. it's just something that i wanted to be a part of, rebuilding that program, we're bringing in some good guys, and like i said, the coaching staff, it starts with them. i'll come in with a chance to compete. right now, there'll be a quarterback there, and then there's a juco guy. but all three of us, we're gonna get after it, and the best quarterback's gonna play, and whoever's not playing, you know we're gonna be ready to step up, and it's a team game and we gotta be ready." 3