Early Football Signing Day 2022: SWFL players sign National Letters of Intent

There were 19 players from Southwest Florida who signed National Letters of Intent on the first day of the early signing period on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

Jaheim Clarke and Anthony Baxter signed National Letters of Intent to play football at Riverdale. Anthony will continue his career at Temple University, while Jaheim will join the Fighting Illini at the University of Illinois. Frank Hepler was the head coach at Raiders this season. He is the new head football coach. Aaron Henry was announced as Illinois’ next defensive coordinator. He was involved in recruiting Clarke.

Shawn Russ will play football at Arizona State. Hunter will sign with Memphis. He played JUCO football for three years at Texas A&M. He was recruited by Dillingham. Dillham was the offensive coordinator at Florida State when Russ was a freshman. Russ visited Tempe just two weekends ago. The defensive back made 91 tackles and had three interceptions. His team lost the state semifinal to Mainland. In 2019, Hunter played in all 10 games in 2020 at Hinds Community College. It was there that he redshirted in 2019.

Oliver Patt Henry has signed to join Dabo Swinney at Clemson. He helped First Baptist win the Florida state championship earlier this month. Henry led all of Southwest Florida with 1,253 receiving yards on 65 receptions, with 14 touchdowns.

Henderson signed with South Carolina on Wednesday. He was a four-star prospect. Offensive lineman Jaheim Buchanon signed for FIU. He played in the FACA all-stars game. The offensive line for Lehigh averaged 165 yards per game this season.

Jason Duclona signed with UCF after originally choosing Rutgers. DuClona finished the season with 33 tackles, 2 tackles-for-loss, two interceptions, 6 passes defended and a blocked punt. He was named the Rotary South all-star game defensive MVP after a pair of interceptions.

Levontai "Boe" Summersett signed with Florida A&M. Summerset ran for 993 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. He surpassed 100 yards passing, receiving and rushing on all three levels.

Jordan Church, a 6-foot-4, 325-pound offensive lineman from Fort Myers, signed with Florida Atlantic. Church had committed to Louisville in June, but pulled back this winter.

Naples High held an early signing celebration last week. Isaiah Augustave, Kendrick Raphael, Kerry Brown and Jonas Duclona are Power Five recruits.

Wyatt Whalen, a 6-5, 300-pound offensive lineman, is going to Bryant. He played a critical role blocking for the record-setting Verot offense this year.