Fort Mill holds ceremony as 14 sign letters of intent

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets had a record number of athletes at a signing ceremony held Thursday afternoon at the school.

Fort Mill had 14 athletes sign college letters of intent to play sports; it was the biggest number of signees in athletics director Dwayne Hartsoe’s tenure at the school. Four different sports were represented. Soccer had the most signees with five – three girls and two boys; football had four; lacrosse had three; baseball had two.

Rogan Wells: Wells, a three-year varsity quarterback, signed with Valdosta State. Wells passed for 1,926 yards and 14 touchdowns his senior season. He also carried the ball 170 times for 676 yards and 13 touchdowns. He set several school records for passing and rushing yards for a quarterback. Over the past three seasons under center, Wells has thrown for 30 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions for a total of 4,928 yards. He has also rushed for 40 touchdowns and 1,473 yards on 393 carries. He is also a two year varsity letterman in basketball.

“I knew the coach and him and I had a great relationship,” Wells said.

Taylor Sheets: Sheets, also a three-year starter at kicker, will head to Buffalo. He played this past season in the Semper Fi All-American Bowl, a first for a Fort Mill athlete. Sheets made seven of 13 field goal attempts his career, as well as 86 of 96 extra points. He had a school record 72-yard punt against Rock Hill. He is also a letterman for the school’s track team.

“Walking into the program there is an opportunity for me to take the starting position off the bat,” Sheets said.

Brett Ferguson: Ferguson is a three-year letterman for the football program and rarely came off the field his senior season. He will be playing football at Shorter (Rome, Ga.). An All-Region selection, he rushed for 984 yards his senior season and scored 11 touchdowns. He also had a career-high 223 rushing yards against Clover his senior season. On defense, he had 70 tackles, a fumble recovery and a sack this past season.

“I heard their business school was great,” Ferguson said. “And I will get a chance to be playing against Rogan, as well as the experience to be in a different state and be under a new coach.”

Austin Randolph: Randolph will be playing football at Newberry and was a three-year started on the offensive line for the Jackets. Randolph opened holes for both Wells and Ferguson and also had nine tackles on defense and a quarterback sack his senior year.

“I liked the school, the location and the coaches,” Randolph said. “It is a family atmosphere. I thought I would fit in well at the school.”

Eliza Denmeade: Denmeade will be playing soccer at Erskine and has been a four-year member of the varsity soccer program and a two-year starter. At midfield, she helped lead the team to consecutive Region 3-4A titles and a 26-6-6 record over two years. She has also played varsity basketball for Fort Mill as well.

“It is a really small and everyone seemed like a close family,” Denmeade said.

Ashley Hogg: Hogg has also been a four-year member of the girls’ soccer team and a varsity player for the soccer program for two years. Hogg will be going onto Coker to play soccer next season.

“When I visited I fell in love with the team and the campus,” Hogg said. “I think it would be a great fit for me.”

Mallory Kovacs: Kovacs will be attending Limestone College. She has been a four-year member of the program and a two-year varsity player.

As a defensive starter and team captain her senior year, Kovacs has helped her defensive unit in holding opponents to less than a goal per game over the past two years.

“They reached out to me and I wasn’t sure I was going to play,” she said. “I really liked the atmosphere and the team. They all worked well together.”

Keegan Downie: Downie signed to play soccer at Lander and has been a four-year varsity starter and a three-year team captain. He was an All-Region selection last season and this year he has five goals and 11 assist so far.

“I had a friend go there last year and it’s a great atmosphere,” he said. “I am excited.”

Chandler Meador: A first-year varsity soccer player, Meador has been a solid contributor to the program for the past three years. He currently has a 1.19 goals against average this season for Fort Mill. He will be staying close to home playing for Queens University (Charlotte).

“The coaching staff at Queens is a good staff and Queens felt like a right fit for me,” he said.

Colin Crutchfield: Crutchfield has played four years on the varsity level in lacrosse and was a member of the 2014 state championship team. He has been a second team Upper State midfielder and will be playing at a nationally-ranked program in Limestone.

Crutchfield has 32 goals in 41 career varsity games, to go along with 15 assist as well.

“I liked the small feel and they had my major,” Crutchfield said. “They have got a good program.”

Joshua Cobbina: Also a member of the 2014 lacrosse state championship team, Cobbina will be heading to Piedmont College (Athens, Ga.). He has been playing varsity lacrosse for three seasons. He has started at defense, but has also been moved to offense as well.

“They have what I want to do in my major (mass communications) and I heard it was a nice place,” Cobbina said.

Luke Strong: Strong will be attending Lees-McRae (Banner Elk, N.C.) and has played on varsity lacrosse the past two seasons. So far this season, Strong has eight groundballs and two takeaways in 12 games played.

Strong said he liked the setting of Lees-McRae because of the mountains and fishing in the area, but also liked what he saw at the school.

“The coaches are nice and it’s small, like a family,” he said.

Jack Corkery: Corkery was one of two baseball players to sign out of the group. Corkery will be playing baseball at Swarthmore College (Pa.). Corkery has lead Fort with a 3-0 record on the mound and at the plate is hitting .289 with seven RBIs and a .341 on-base percentage.

“They are one of the best academic schools in the country,” Corkery said. “I like the coach and he seems like he brings some good energy to the team.”

Nick Manco: Manco will be attending Sewanee (Tenn.). Manco has played in every game this year as either a designated-hitter or at first base. He has batted either third or fourth in the order and is hitting .235 with a home run and 11 RBIs. He has scored eight runs and has an on-base percentage of .333.

“It is real good medical school,” Manco said. “I was going to be able to play baseball and my major is pre-med.”

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Fort Mill holds ceremony as 14 sign letters of intent."