Four Stanhope Elmore football players signed to play at the next level Wednesday afternoon.
Colton Walls, Jackson Thomas, Kameron Stokes and Josiah Scott all signed National Letters of Intent with college football programs on National Signing Day.
All four players are staying in state as Walls and Thomas both signed with Troy University while Stokes and Scott are headed to Tuskegee University.
Walls will be playing two sports when he gets to Troy. The standout senior has already signed to play baseball with the Trojans, but he will also stand out on the football field.
Walls played a variety of positions for Stanhope Elmore’s football team, including tight end, long snapper and quarterback. He had a stellar senior season playing all those positions, and he accumulated 488 offensive yards and six touchdowns this year.
At the college level, he was originally planned to be used primarily as a long snapper, but he is now supposed to play tight end for the Trojans as well. On the baseball field, he will both play infield and pitch.
“It feels amazing that I get to play college ball in both sports and that I don’t have to give anything up,” Walls said. “I get to keep doing what I’ve been doing since I was little and it feels amazing. I feel like I can definitely make a difference for them.”
Thomas has been committed to Troy for almost a full calendar year, and he has shown why the Trojans recruited him over the last few seasons.
He has been a starter for three seasons and as a junior in 2021, Thomas recorded 44 catches for 602 yards and three touchdowns. He blew those numbers out of the water in 2022, scoring more than four times as many touchdowns.
He was a do-it-all player for Stanhope’s offense as he recorded 73 catches for 734 yards and six touchdowns through the air, and he also ran the ball. His 73 catches is a single-season school record.
Thomas had the third-most carries and led the team in rushing yards. He had 39 carries for 233 yards, good for 6 yards per carry, along with seven touchdowns.
“This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid,” Thomas said. “It feels surreal to sign with a great school that I know I will do great things at. I have a great relationship with the coaches there and I really think coach (Jon) Sumrall will do great things with me while we’re there.”
Scott, like Walls, played both tight end and quarterback for the Mustangs this season. He is signing with Tuskegee as a tight end and has shown flashes of stardom when he had the ball in his hands.
Scott recorded 12 catches this season for 209 yards and two touchdowns, good for 17.4 yards per catch which ranked second on the team. He was also pushed into quarterback duties this season due to injuries on the team and passed for 147 yards in one game.
He added 32 rushing yards on seven carries.
“For me, the biggest thing is the commitment aspect of it because I’m joining a great program,” Scott said. “This is really special. My plan is to make the biggest thing out of it that I can. Ultimately, it’s a great school so the diploma holds up really well and is looked up on. That and the history, I want to learn everything.”
Stokes is joining a long list of Stanhope Elmore defensive linemen who have signed to play at the collegiate level. Stokes was a powerhouse on the defensive line this season and caused havoc against nearly every team he faced.
The senior recorded 34 total tackles, good for seventh best on the team. He recorded eight tackles for loss however, and added three sacks and one quarterback hurry in the process. All three of those stats ranked second on the team.
Stokes’ work ethic is what puts him above the rest, and he knows he will bring that positive mentality and hard work there. He’s not planning on opening any doors while he’s there, but instead wants to “knock the wall down.”
“I just feel really happy,” Stokes said. “I worked hard for this day and hard work pays off. My defensive line coach, he treated me like I wasn’t just a player but was family. We had fun together. The environment there is more family-oriented than school, but they really cared about academics and athletics as well.”
