Friends gather around A.I. duPont’s Taylor Edwards at A.I.’s Signing Day on Wednesday afternoon.
Taylor Edwards remembers everything.
He was the holder on an A.I. du Pont field-goal attempt in the Tigers’ season opener, late in the second quarter against Sussex Tech on Sept. 11. The snap went awry, and he rolled out to try to find a receiver.
“As soon as I got hit, I felt the pop,” Edwards said. “It didn’t exactly hurt. I just knew something was wrong. I just laid there, got a little teary-eyed right there.”
The anterior cruciate ligament in Edwards’ left knee was torn. His final season of high school football would finish with two catches for 25 yards, and three assisted tackles.
But Edwards was all smiles on Wednesday. The 6-foot-4, 238-pound Wilmington resident signed to attend the University of Massachusetts on a football scholarship in front of friends and family in the A.I. du Pont High library.
“It actually boiled down to this morning,” Edwards said. “I had the Wake Forest paper in my hand, the UMass paper in my other hand, and I was just sitting there thinking. Right now, I feel I can make the best impact at UMass.”
It was a testament to Edwards’ resiliency – and advancements in medical science.
“If it was 1991, absolutely, I think that probably would have been the last time he played football,” A.I. coach Zeb Blum said. “But we’ve come such a long way with technology and the surgeries and the doctors that we have.”
Wednesday marked the first day of the period high school football and soccer players can make their college destinations official by signing a National Letter of Intent. Jubilant signing ceremonies took place across Delaware and the nation, and no athlete was happier than Edwards.
Dr. Raymond Wolfe performed the surgery on Edwards’ knee on Oct. 11 at Saint Francis Hospital. Edwards even remembers the time – 11:37 a.m.
He has been rehabbing at ATI Physical Therapy and working out at Stay Real 302, and estimates his recovery at 70 percent. He expects to be 100 percent by the end of March, in plenty of time to enroll at UMass in mid-June.
The Minutemen envision him as a multi-purpose tight end. He also visited and considered Wake Forest, Connecticut, Old Dominion and Delaware, but the consistent pursuit by UMass – even immediately after he was injured – made the difference.
“I think one of the big keys with him signing with UMass is they were there the next day. They stuck,” Blum said. “They had no waver in their commitment to be with Taylor, and I think that made a big deal with him.”
Edwards was one of several Delaware high school football players who signed with Division I programs on Wednesday.
Salesianum running back-defensive back Colby Reeder, the state’s Defensive Player of the Year and the Gatorade and Maxwell Football Club Delaware Player of the Year, made First State football fans happy by signing with Delaware.
Sallies defensive end Kyle Cathers loved his visit to Coastal Carolina, and the Chanticleers loved Cathers. So the 6-foot-5, 270-pound senior was happy to make his decision official.
“They loved him the first time they saw him,” Sals coach Bill DiNardo said of Coastal Carolina. “My goodness, they saw a highlight film of him, and they offered the next day. He’s going to do really well.”
The Sals also sent Zach Jarome to Holy Cross, where the 6-2, 200-pounder projects as a safety or outside linebacker in the Crusaders’ 4-2-5 defense.
“Holy Cross is really excited for him, and he’s excited to go there,” DiNardo said. “I think it’s a great fit.”
William Penn also had four players sign to play at the next level – receiver Chichi Amachi (Delaware), defensive end-tight end Frank Burton (Ball State), defensive tackle Elijah Lewis (New Hampshire) and running back Titus Nelson (Lackawanna).
The 6-2, 250-pound Burton had plenty of options, as he also considered Cornell, Monmouth, Delaware, Delaware State and Colgate. But he committed last summer after a visit to Ball State, a Mid-American Conference school in Muncie, Ind.
“It was a perfect fit for me, seeing the campus and meeting the students,” Burton said. “… I visited there in June, and I just fell in love with it from Day One.”
Lewis (6-1, 270) also considered Villanova, Monmouth and DSU before signing with New Hampshire, which competes against Delaware in the Colonial Athletic Association.
“I think he’s going to do great things,” William Penn coach Marvin Dooley said of Lewis. “I think he is the guy that everybody overlooked.”
Nelson (6-1, 250) has the frame for big-time football, and Lackawanna – a two-year school in Scranton, Pa. – has a track record of sending players to higher levels. The school had 15 players sign on Wednesday, including two with Oklahoma, two with West Virginia and one with Penn State.
“It’s a good fit for him,” Dooley said of Nelson. “The small classes will be good for him. Titus has a great upside.”
Woodbridge graduate Dajon Emory is one of the Lackawanna players moving on. The 6-3, 255-pound defensive lineman signed with Arkansas State, where he will be a junior next season.
Michael Williams (6-3, 225), a fullback-defensive end from Cape Henlopen, signed with Delaware State. Cornerback Ruben Saunders (6-1, 185), a Hodgson graduate who spent two seasons at Dean College, signed with North Carolina Central. St. Georges defensive lineman Stefon Woodruff joined Amachi and Reeder in signing with Delaware.
Others making their college destinations official included Appoquinimink’s Erica Sieben (Longwood soccer) and Kelsy Fitzgerald (Shippensburg soccer), Dover’s James Stock (Spalding soccer), Archmere’s Sullivan Boulden (William and Mary soccer), Newark’s Jake Coale (West Virginia soccer), Caravel’s Faruk Mohammed (Delaware soccer), Delaware Military Academy’s Nick Boc (King’s College football), Charter of Wilmington’s Kaitlyn Siberski (North Georgia soccer) and Sam Peters (Holy Cross soccer) and St. Mark’s Madison Burnham (Elizabethtown soccer) and Cullen Robinson (Delaware swimming).
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.