Signing Day came a day 'late' at East Coweta High this year, but it didn't seem that odd to host it Thursday. Especially considering it was also "Groundhog Day."
The faces of four seniors certainly looked like anybody else that had inked letters of intent a day earlier while celebrating college scholarships.
Among them were the three Indians football players, the first of what could be more than a handful from this year's 32-man senior class, along with East Coweta senior soccer captain Jacob Harlan, who signed with USC-Upstate.
(To view photos of the individual signings, visit http://photos.times-herald.com/mycapture and navigate to Sports for the photo gallery.)
Harlan will be one of just two seniors on this year's Indians soccer team, which opens the season on Valentine's Day at home against Mountain View. Both varsity lineups travel to Chapel Hill next Friday for preseason scrimmages.
"It's a pretty young team," said the All-Region 2-AAAAA sweeper and All-County selection in 2010. "We're hoping to make the state playoffs again this year."
As a junior, Harlan scored six goals and added an assist while earning team MVP honors.
Thursday's football signees included All-Region 2-AAAAA and All-County safety Michael Collins with West Georgia. The Indians standout, who led a 7-4 state-playoff team with 124 tackles last season along with a pair of interceptions, adds his name to a growing list of Coweta talents now playing just up Highway 27 in Carrollton.
Collins also caught 10 passes for 184 yards with a touchdown on offense last year, and his 18.4-yard average led Indian receivers.
The Wolves are coming off a 6-4 season capped off by an upset of then No. 1 ranked Gulf South Conference rival Delta State in their best campaign since 2005.
It didn't take the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Collins much more than the prospects of more good fortune on the rise and a view of some of his greatest hits on the Jumbotron of its three-year old University Stadium scoreboard for him to come to a decision.
"We were touring the stadium in one of the (luxury) boxes and they said they had some highlights for me to watch," Collins said, with a grin. "I'm figuring its of them from last year, but instead its our highlights."
Joining Collins among ECHS football seniors were brothers Qwaitraz Fenner and Antwon Johnson, both of whom decided to attend Georgia Military College, making their mom, Simone Johnson, overly pleased.
"They've been together the whole way," she said.
Johnson was East Coweta's second-leading receiver last season with 15 catches for 129 yards and made eight tackles on special teams units. Fenner had four catches for 35 yards.
Also on Thursday, 6-5, 235-pound Indians senior Cole Trolinger confirmed he has accepted an offer as a preferred walk-on at Georgia. The two-way starter earned All-Region 2-AAAAA Second Team honors as well as an All-County selection at defensive end with 57 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles.
At tight end, Trolinger was also a top performer while making 10 catches for 86 yards and a touchdown and grading out at 88-percent for the season.
Trolinger said he turned down an offer from Georgia Southern to get a shot to play in Athens. He'll join Newnan juniors Zander and Alec Ogletree and former Trinity Christian standout Eddie McQuillen, who accepted a preferred walk-on offer last year.
Meanwhile, a former East Coweta football player also made plans to play college football, having transferred further west.
Jamarcus Young, who was a two-way contributor for the Indians as a junior, signed with New Mexico after transferring to a Colorado high school this year to be closer to older brother Chris, an outstanding cornerback in the late 1990s who went on to play at Georgia Tech and later the Denver Broncos.
Playing his senior year at Cherry Creek High in Englewood, Colo., Jamarcus played receiver, safety and cornerback.
In all, East Coweta loses a senior class of 32 players, one of its largest in recent memory.
Head coach Clint Wade said Thursday that the schedule for the 2012 and 2013 seasons won't get much easier.
In addition to games against region opponents Tri-Cities, Douglas County, Westlake, Langston Hughes and Newnan, East Coweta will play non-region games against Lovejoy, Sandy Creek, Archer and Central High of Phenix City, Ala.
In all, at least six state playoff opponents are on the schedule for 2012.
