Three East Forsyth football standouts recently signed their national letters of intent to attend school and play football at the next level.
Brayden Cresimore will go to Lenior-Rhyne University, Kenyon Smith will be at Catawba College and Jaylin Murry will be at Gardner-Webb University, East Forsyth Head Coach Todd Willert said.
“All of them had other options. That is why they did not sign on signing day. They were still figuring out where they wanted to go,” he said.
Willert believes Cresimore has a bright future at Lenior-Rhyne.
“Brayden was our kicker and back-up punter last season, and he was the (CP 4-A) Conference Kicker of the Year. The previous season he was our holder and he did the kickoffs. Most of his kickoffs were touchbacks, and he can hit 50-yard field goals, but he never had to last season,” Willert said. “He is extremely smart in the classroom. He is in the Top 10 in his senior class. He was extremely smart on the field. He would help me put in some things on kickoffs and he gave me some ideas fro special teams too. Lenior-Rhyne is excited to have him. He has a big leg, and he is a great person and a great student. They think he has a chance to play right away. I think they just want him as a kicker, but they wanted to make sure he could punt too.”
Smith’s senior season ended due a broken leg in the fifth game of the season against Mount Tabor. However, a number of schools saw enough of his potential in his junior year to recruit him.
“Kenyon was our inside linebacker before he got injured. It was a tough way to end his high school career. He worked very hard and is now ready to go. He has done what he needed to do, and he came to every practice and every game,” Willert said. “He was conference Defensive Player of the Year as a junior and he was all-state. He is so versatile for us. He played inside linebacker, but he could cover running backs out of the backfield too. His leadership was great and he helped us get in the right defenses. He is a great leader and a great person. You could see statistically we gave up more running yards after he got hurt. We are extremely happy for him to play at the next level. I am just grateful he has the opportunity to continue in football.”
Murry was an extremely versatile player for the Eagles the last two seasons, he said.
“He played everywhere for us, and he had the most all-purpose yards on the team last season. He was all-conference and was voted team most valuable player. We had a bunch of great players on our team, and to be voted team MVP by the players was pretty big. He did kick returns, punt returns, played running back and wide receiver, and we could put him in the slot. We also played him at safety on second and long and third and long, and he was tied for most interceptions,” Willert said. “To be that versatile you have to understand the game. A lot of younger guys don’t understand it, but he sees the game. He wouldn’t even practice with us on defense, but he knew the game. With his speed and football IQ, a lot of schools wanted him.”
Murry wanted to continue to play on the offensive side of the ball, which is one big reason he chose Gardner-Webb.
“A lot of schools wanted him to play defensive back, but he wants to play running back, so I think that is why he chose Gardner-Webb. He loves being on the offensive side of the ball. When you go to college you really have to want to play a sport, and you should go a school where you can play where you want to be. I don’t know if he will play early there because they have a big running back room. I do think he will have an opportunity to be on special teams early,” Willert said.
