On the first day of the national signing period, the Glynn Academy Terrors football program saw DJ Clinch and DreShawn Stevens sign their National Letter of Intent’s in front of their families, teammates, coaches and peers.
Head football coach Rocky Hidalgo addressed the auditorium on the school’s campus and thanked everyone for coming out to share the moment with the two players. Hidalgo pointed out that there are 4,000 college scholarships available and roughly 1,000 of them go to high school seniors.
“Anytime you get a chance to go off and somebody is going to help pay for college, not just football but all sports. Not only does this opportunity help provide assistance for college but it also can open doors for you,” Hidalgo said Wednesday morning. “It can get you into a school maybe usually academically you wouldn’t qualify for. The other thing is, there are really famous wealthy successful alumni who are big fans of the athletic programs.
“So to be able to go and play at the school it can help you out down the line in terms of getting a job and putting you in a circle of friends. It’s really important, kids who are athletes in college have a higher retention rate than regular students. We are excited anytime one of our kids, not just football players, but anybody at Glynn academy gets to go off and compete and improve themselves and educate themselves in college.”
Clinch was announced by Hidalgo to take the center stage of the podium and not only sign his NLI papers but to address those who came out to support.
“First of all, I want to thank God for letting me be here,” Clinch said. “I want to thank my mom, my teammates for letting me have a good four years of GA football. With all that said, I’m going to Savannah State University.
Although Clinch was nervous to be on stage in front of a big crowd, he was around those who loved him.
Clinch said Savannah State came to him last month and as he took an official visit, he committed on the spot.
“It was a good process,” Clinch said. “I went to go visit the school, and it worked out for me. I decided that day but it was good process.”
Clinch added that the family feeling from the program and an opportunity to make an immediate impact made the decision easy for the GACA Class 6A all-state nose guard.
Next to take the stage was DreShawn Stevens who singed his NLI to play with Berry College, a Division III program in the Southern Athletic Association Conference.
Stevens, with a speech already prepared, introduced his family first before going into the list of people he wanted to thank for helping him reach the next level.
“My teammates, I wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for them,” Stevens said. “They encouraged me to actually see that I can play at the next level. I want to thank my mom for really teaching me how to be resourceful and respectful. I want to thank my family for being there every step of the way. I want to thank my coaches for bringing the best out of me on the field in the weight room and not only showing me how to beat the person in front of me, but how to be a man.
“One saying that coach Rock says is ‘the No. 1 dependability is accountability’ and i’ll remember that. I want to thank Mrs. Jones and my teachers for making this process less stressful. With that being said, I will be taking my talents and academics to Berry College.”
Stevens said he always knew he was going to go to college for academic purposes, but it was the push from his teachers, teammates, coaches and family to encourage the all-region honorable mention linebacker to play in college.
“Berry just has everything that I need, I like the student-teacher ratios,” Stevens said. “It’s small. The program they pretty much look at you like a person. I wouldn’t have known I would have played at the next level but my teammates and coaches knew I could. That’s coming from them.”
Clinch and Stevens had the opportunity to spend four years with the program, with the both of them acknowledging the family feeling that Glynn Academy provides.
“It was a good program, it helped me become a man and get better.” Clinch said.
“We had our ups and downs, but it was more the ups than the downs that I can remember.” Stevens added.
As players come and go out of the Terror program and look to continue playing at the next level, Hidalgo praised the two standout defensive players for the work they put into the program.
“They are great kids. DJ he was an all-state player at nose guard and DreShawn is a kid who’s worked really hard, he’s a high academic kid obviously going to Berry,” Hidalgo said. “He’s a high character kid and I’m really excited for the both of them.”