ROGERS -- Six Rogers Heritage football players inked letters of intent to play college football in four different states during a ceremony Wednesday at the War Eagles fieldhouse.
Garrett Sheetz, Joel Brackett and Collin Christian all elected to stay in-state. Sheetz and Brackett will both play at Hendrix College, an NCAA Division III school in Conway. Christian will play at Division II Arkansas Tech with former teammate Josh Qualls. D.J. Borman will play for the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kan., while Andy Mendoza signed with Central Methodist in Fayette, Mo.
Noah Madryga inked with Luther College, located nine hours from Northwest Arkansas in Decorah, Iowa.
Heritage defensive coordinator Paul Wilson said the coaching staff is proud to push the number of Heritage players on college football rosters to well more than 20 now.
"It's been important to us," Wilson said. "We might now have that SEC guy or that big-time Division I guy in any given year. But we have kids who want to continue to play college football, and we believe it's our responsibility to do our best to help them get recruited.
"If they want to continue to play and have that ability to play, whatever level, we've done our best to try to help that happen."
Christian, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound receiver, earned all-conference honors as a senior. He finished with a team-high 46 receptions for 531 yards and nine touchdowns.
Sheetz and Brackett were two of Heritage's top tacklers from their linebacker spots as seniors. Sheetz finished second on the team with 83 stops, followed closely by Brackett with 79.
Borman (6-4, 281 pounds) and Madryga (5-10, 261) helped anchor the War Eagles' offensive line, while Mendoza was a standout on the defensive line and honorable mention all-conference. Mendoza (6-2, 254) finished with 60.5 tackles and two quarterback sacks this season.
Sports on 02/04/2016