Four Edna High School seniors will have the chance to pursue gridiron goals next year on college campuses.
Early Wednesday morning, seniors Braylen Harris, Whit Martin, Peyton McCarrell, and Chase Schubert signed letters of intent to play college football as their teammates, families and friends watched.
Harris and Schubert signed with Blinn College, a junior college in Brenham; McCarrell signed with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a Division III power in Belton; and Martin signed with the Colorado School of Mines, a Division II power and top engineering school in Golden, Colorado.
During the ceremony, Edna Head Coach and Athletic Director Jimmie Mitchell told the crowd that the four were very special young men whom he and his staff had coached since they were eighth graders.
“This opportunity that they have as young adults to go out and be able to continue to play football is pretty emotional for me,” Mitchell said, listing the team’s accomplishments, including a perfect non-district and district season, four straight playoff wins, and another trip to the Class 3A Division I state semifinals before losing to Columbus.
“These guys were a huge part of making that happen. Some of them have been on two of those state semifinals teams, there’s a couple that have been on all three, and they’re a huge reason why. They’ve been special kids throughout the time they’ve been with me.”
The opportunity for the four players to be seated with their parents, waiting to sign their paperwork, didn’t come just from game days, Mitchell said. It came through pushing themselves in the offseason and at practices.
“This is through hard work,” he said. “These guys didn’t complain. They frowned a little bit every once in a while, but they didn’t complain. They went in there and worked hard when they didn’t want to. When they didn’t feel like it, they went and did it anyway. That’s why they’re sitting here today.
“I want to thank you all for that, for the tenacity and the courage, and being the special kids you are. You deserved everything that you have coming. All the wins, today, and moving forward. I wish you the best of luck, and if you ever need anything from us here in Cowboy Country, you just let us know. We’ll be here for you.”
Harris, Schubert, McCarrell, and Martin certainly were there for Edna.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Harris rarely left the field in high school.
On offense, he had 51 catches for 1,257 yards, including 17 for touchdowns, along with 469 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns on 32 carries. As a return specialist, Harris had three returns for touchdowns and 483 total return yards.
As a defensive back, he recorded 48 tackles, eight tackles for loss, 15 pass breakups, 10 interceptions, and two defensive touchdowns. He was named the District 15-3A MVP.
Harris had offers from Florida A&M, Murray State University, and Missouri State University, in addition to Blinn, but the Buccaneers program has a proven track record for sending players to major Division I programs such as Texas A&M and Houston.
“It’s a place to develop,” said Harris, who expects to play wide receiver and special teams. “They market their players to other D-I schools. I didn’t get highly recruited out of high school, so I’m going here to better myself. I feel like it’ll be a great choice for me.”
He plans to major in Business Marketing, with the hope of playing at the University of Houston after Blinn.
“I have a lot of family from Houston,” Harris said. “It’s a pretty good program over there. I’ve been up there a couple of times for a camp. I really like how it is over there.”
Finally getting his chance under center as a senior, the 6-3, 225-pound Schubert made the most of his opportunity, completing 142 of 202 pass attempts for 2,220 yards and 33 touchdowns, offset by only six interceptions. He also rushed for 318 yards and nine touchdowns on 42 carries.
Schubert was named the district’s Offensive MVP.
He also had an offer from McMurry University, but felt like Blinn gave him more of a chance to play.
“I feel like JUCO is the best route to go right now, especially with the transfer portal,” Schubert said. “I can actually get game film out there instead of practice film when I transfer out of Blinn, so I feel like it’s the best decision for me.”
The Blinn coaching staff has told him to expect to long snap and to play tight end, he said.
He plans to major in Construction Management and to eventually attend Texas A&M, possibly as a walk-on.
At 6-3 and 250 pounds, McCarrell had the physique to either effectively block or catch the ball from his tight end position and did both well.
McCarrell provided plenty of protection with 42 pancake blocks at tight end and gave Schubert another receiving option, catching eight passes for 158 yards and a touchdown. At defensive end, he had 26 tackles.
He earned First Team Tight End and Second Team Defensive End.
In addition to UMHB, McCarrell had offers from Texas Lutheran University, McMurry, and Hardin Simmons University.
The environment around the campus and the Crusader football program made the difference, he said.
“It was just a really good environment and a really nice campus,” said McCarrell, who is considering finance as a major. “They acted like they wanted me, like more than anybody else.”
He looks forward to the challenge of earning playing time in a program that regularly advances deep in the Division III playoffs, winning championships in 2016, 2018, and 2021 and finishing runnerup in 2004 and 2017. The Crusaders finished 9-4, losing to Johns Hopkins 17-10 in the quarterfinals.
“I know it’s a very hard program and they’re definitely going to stay on top of me, but I hope to grow a lot and help the team out,” McCarrell said.
From his spot on the defensive line, Martin, a 6-4, 230-pound tackle, gave opposing quarterbacks and offensive coordinators headaches. He recorded 74 tackles, including 31 tackles for loss, with four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, a defensive touchdown, seven sacks, and eight passes broken up.
He earned district First Team Defensive Tackle and Second Team Tight End.
Martin also had offers from East Texas Baptist University, the University of Memphis, McMurry, Hardin Simmons, and Trinity University, but the Orediggers won out with their topflight engineering programs and the quality of football there.
“It was mostly the idea of getting a great degree, playing great football,” Martin said. “That’s important to me, coming from Edna. It’s a part of the culture. The great degree really sealed the deal and separated it from other colleges, just the opportunity to better yourself for the future.”
He plans to study mechanical engineering.
