MOULTRIE — Nine Colquitt County senior football players took advantage of National Signing Day on Wednesday to affirm where they plan to start their college careers.

And three  of them — Alex Florence, Quan Gammage and  K’veon Pollard —will enroll in Georgia Military College’s two-year program.

Rickie Yates, Milton Barfield and Ny Edwards also will stay in state and go to Point University.

Marcus Ponder will head to Gardner-Webb in North Carolina, Ontavious Carolina will play offense at Bethune-Cookman in Florida and Isaiah Palmore also will go to North Carolina to play for Shaw University.

Linebacker Pershaun Fann signed with the University of Buffalo in December and is already on its cold and snowy campus.

There could be two or three others to sign.

“Today is a big day for these young men,” said Packers defensive coordinator Alan Rodemaker during a signing ceremony in the Colquitt County gymnasium.

“I’m very proud of these young men. They have done a lot to get to this day. They are the best of the best.”

A number of Packers have started their outstanding career at Georgia Military, including Ronald Bonner, Dextra Polite and Brian Daniels.

The Bulldogs, who went 6-5 last year, are under the direction of head coach Rob Manchester, who had been the program’s defensive coordinator the previous 14 years.

GMC is getting three promising defensive players.

Rodemaker called the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Florence a “do-it-all guy,” who played the field side and boundary side on the Packers defense and also lined up at safety.

“And he was our pass rushing specialist,” Rodemaker added. “He ran as good as anyone on the team.”

Florence had 47 total tackles, including eight for a loss, as a junior when the Packers went 9-1 and advanced to the state quarterfinals.

Last season, he was credited with 32 tackles, including seven more in an opponent’s backfield.

Gammage did not play as a sophomore, but he was a key member of the Packers’ defensive line the last two seasons.

Rodemaker said Gammage “is what a defensive lineman is supposed to look like.”

And the longtime coach also appreciated the way Gammage handled himself.
“He was always ‘yes sir’ and ‘no sir,’” Rodemaker said.

Pollard made sure that Colquitt County fans knew that even though he was the younger brother of Packers all-time leading receiver Kiel Pollard, he was an outstanding player in his own right.

After playing tight end for two years, he moved to the defense for the 2021 season, playing end and outside linebacker and responded with 26 total tackles, including three for loss.

“He’s a very unselfish player and now he’s getting the opportunity to be re-recruited,” Rodemaker said.

Point University is a NAIA school located in West Point, Ga.

The Skyhawks, who play in the Mid-South Conference, were 2-9 last year, but have elevated Trevor Zeiders to head coach after he was the defensive coordinator the last two seasons.

Yates played little until his senior season when he earned the prestigious No. 1 jersey, took over as an undersized middle linebacker and led the Packers with 99 tackles.

“He was our quarterback on defense,” Rodemaker said. “He loves the game and he is wired to play.

“And he is excellent in the classroom.”

The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Barfield also was solid for the Packers for three seasons, amassing 56 total tackles, including 14 for losses, from his defensive end position.

Edwards, like Yates, did not play much as a junior, but was named to the All-Region 1-7A first team as a senior cornerback.

He had 31 total tackles last season, including two for a loss, and also picked off two passes.

He finished his career with 55 total tackles.

“He’s another one who is good in the classroom,” Rodemaker said.

Palmore moved to Colquitt County as a sophomore and has shown tremendous improvement since becoming a Packer, said Packers offensive assistant Dave Windon.

“He is the diamond in the rough of this graduating class because of the way he goes about his business every day,” Windon said of the 6-foot-5, 305-pounder who will play his college football at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C.

Shaw is the second-oldest historically black college or university in the country.

The Bears, who play in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, were 6-4 last season.

Carolina has produced a full highlight reel of outstanding plays on offense, defense and on special teams.

Over the last two seasons, he has been credited with 43 total tackles, including 10 for losses.

But the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder will head to Daytona Beach, Fla., expecting to make an impact for the Wildcats as a receiver.

He certainly was a big-play performer for the Packers on offense.

As a junior, he caught 11 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.

Last fall, he had 13 catches for 239 yards and another touchdown.

But also last season, he scored two more touchdowns out of the “Wild Hawg” short-yardage formation and returned a kickoff for another score.

Ponder’s father, also Marcus Ponder, was a cornerback for the Packers in the late 1980s, but at 5-foot-11, 286 pounds, the son was destined to play with his hand on the ground.

And he has done that exceeding well for the Packers for three years.

As a sophomore, he had 25 total tackles, 10 for losses.

In his junior year, he had 39 tackles, and again was credited with tackling opposing ball carriers in the backfield 10 times.

Last year, despite missing playing time because of injuries, he still managed 36 tackles with eight for losses.

When he reports to Boiling Springs, N.C., to begin his career at Gardner-Webb University, he will find a familiar face.

Ty French, Ponder’s former Packer teammate, starts at defensive end for the Bulldogs, who play in the Big South Conference and went 4-7 last year.

Carolina, Gammage, Ponder, Yates and Edwards were all named to the All-Region 1-7A first team.