By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

PELHAM – Wednesday, Dec. 19, was a special day for two friends and Pelham football teammates Brock Higdon and Ryan Jewell, as the two singed their National Letters of Intent to kick off the early National Signing Day period.

In a quaint ceremony inside Pelham’s new field house, Higdon signed to join the University of South Alabama, while Jewell signed to be a part of Jacksonville State University, as both start Pelham defenders will remain in the state of Alabama.

“I remember when me and Brock were freshmen in English class talking about how we were going to try and make it to the next level and give it our all,” Jewell said. “It means a lot to be where we are today. We are both so blessed.”

Both Higdon and Jewell were just named to the 2018 All-County football team the night before with Jewell making the first team and Higdon making the second team.

During his senior season, Jewell posted a total of 110 tackles with 13 tackles for loss and four sacks to put his claim in for being one of the best linebackers in the county.

“God has definitely blessed me,” he said. “The ability to play this sport has been unbelievable, and I feel blessed to be able to keep doing that.”

As a defensive lineman, Higdon didn’t have quite as many total tackles with 54, but he did post 15 quarterback hurries, 13 tackles for loss and eight sacks, become the opposing quarterback’s worst nightmare as a threat to get in the backfield every snap.

“I can’t be thankful enough for the drive that God has blessed me with to be able to better myself through football,” Higdon said. “It’s been so much fun here at Pelham and I’ve created memories for a lifetime, and now I’m excited to take the next step. I’m proud of the way I have worked to get here.”

While both players are excited for the future ahead at two impressive in-state universities, both will also remember their time at Pelham as well.

“Pelham is always going to be home to me,” Higdon said. “I’ll always have memories of coaches pushing me and my teammates and brothers helping me out with everything. These last four years of high school were good times, but now there’s more coming.”

During that time, the two teammates were also able to form a close bond.

“We’ve known each other since middle school and once we started playing on JV, we started thinking playing college football would be the coolest thing and now we’ve both accomplished that and will be playing next year. That’s crazy,” Jewell said. “We just tried to be good leaders and to do things the right way.”

Now both will look to go on to the next level and take with them what they have learned at Pelham under head coach Tom Causey, as well as the valuable lessons learned from family and friends along the way.