Higgins signs 15 high schoolers on 1st day of signing period
By Jesse Newell
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
As of Wednesday morning, Emporia State football coach Garin Higgins had announced the signing of 15 high school players to letters of intent.
The list includes three local athletes, as Emporia High’s Dillon Cox, Waverly’s Matt Coursen and Lebo’s Taylor Barker all made their intentions official.
Cox, a 6-foot-3 linebacker, was a first-team all-State performer for EHS, while Coursen, who will play wide receiver for the Hornets, was a two-time All-State running back for the Bulldogs.
Barker, a 6-foot-4 defensive end, also earned All-State honors.
The Hornets beefed up their line positions with five signings. Dustin Ennis, a 6-1, 270-pound defensive lineman, joins ESU after being named first-team All-State in Oklahoma by both the Oklahoma Coaches’ Association and the Daily Oklahoman. He recorded 124 tackles and 12 sacks his senior year.
Twin brothers Corey and Kyle Sudhoff committed from Blue Springs (Mo.) South, with the 245-pound Corey earning All-Conference honors as a defensive lineman and the 240-pound Kyle grabbing All-League honors as an offensive lineman.
Wichita Bishop Carroll’s Matt Rosenhamer (6-2, 210) comes in as a second-team All-Wichita defensive lineman.
Olathe South’s Jordan Godberson (6-4, 250) also will join the Hornets.
Braxton Owens (6-0, 245) highlights the rest of the defensive players brought in. The Muskogee (Okla.) High product was All-State in his classification, recording 138 tackles last season. He is Higgins’ cousin.
Joining Owens will be high school teammate Ethan McBride, who had 81 tackles and two sacks as a strong safety.
Linebacker Chuck Thompson (6-2, 225) from Omaha (Neb.) Central and Kurt Webster (5-11, 180) from Shawnee Mission West were the two other defensive signings for ESU.
Higgins’ other three commits came at the skills positions on offense.
Bartees Cox (5-11, 185) was an All-District player for Mustang (Okla.) High School, catching 39 passes for 389 yards and four touchdowns last season.
Tailbacks Adrian Abner (5-7, 166) and Jason Wright (5-9, 175) become Hornets after decorated high school careers.
Abner was an All-District selection at DeSoto (Texas) High School, rushing for 1,143 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Wright was an All-District performer at Omaha (Neb.) North, also taking fourth in the long jump at the Nebraska State meet as a freshman.
The high school signees join a pair of junior-college transfers that are already enrolled on campus.
Blake Green, a 6-foot, 260-pound lineman, comes in after earning JUCO All-American honors at Northeastern Okla. A&M last season.
Andre Sloan El (6-3, 190) enters as a dual-threat quarterback, throwing for 1,768 yards and 12 touchdowns for Visalia (Calif.) College of the Sequoias. He spent his freshman season at the University of Minnesota.
For more on the signings, including comments from Higgins, see Friday’s Emporia Gazette.
Hornet fans are invited to join Higgins at the first Hornet Football Forecast Bash at 6 p.m. Thursday at Bruff’s Sports Bar and Grill. The event will begin with a social half-hour at 5:30, with Higgins speaking at 6.
The coach will introduce his coaching staff and provide commentary on the 2007 recruiting class. Video highlights of the class also will be shown.
citizenx (anonymous) says...
I have a question and was wondering if anyone could help me out. Why have all the posts that were slightly disparaging of Dillon Cox deleted and the stories either deleted or the comments section disabled? but at the same time on another story, there are 50 posts that are very racist and bigoted that haven't been deleted? If any one could answer this for me, that would be great.
February 8, 2007 at 8:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )