Westover seniors sign with Fort Valley State

ALBANY — Senior members of the Westover football program continue to reap the benefits of the hard work during the past four years. Wednesday afternoon, Jysanti Richardson and Michael Ervin signed their letters-of-intent to attend and play for Fort Valley State.

Westover head coach Octavia Jones addressed the crowd and said it was a special moment to see more of his players who were part of the winningest team in program history and the first region championship team, make the step to the next level.

He’s confident that both players will make an impact at Fort Valley in the same way they did at Westover.

“They’re getting two hard-nosed players that’s gonna come in and work hard for their program,” Jones said. “These guys have been fully committed to our football program during their time here at Westover, and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna take that same work ethic over to Fort Valley.”

For Ervin, he said the campus as well as the program itself made him feel right at home.

“I went to their tryouts and I like their facilities and how they were doing things, and I just felt comfortable there,” he said. “They’ve got a good up and coming defense and they’ve got rising freshman, and I just feel like it fits me to go there.”

While the two will endure the adjustment period that all college freshman go through, Richardson said having his childhood friend definitely helps.

“[Playing at the next level with Ervin] It means a lot because we grew up together. We’ve been together since we was in the second grade,” he said.

He added that playing against the hometown Rams in what is always a heated rivalry game excites him.

“It’s a good program to go into being that they’re Albany State’s rivals,” he said. “It’s a good feeling because former high school students [from the area] play for Albany State.”

Richardson and Ervin join the list of talented Patriots who are taking their talents to Georgia colleges.

“I’m kind of loyal to the state of Georgia and I would love to see all of our athletes stay in state, but of course my main focus is just providing them with opportunities to go wherever they want to go so they can attain their dreams and their hopes,” he said. “We’re just extremely proud of these guys and we’re happy for everything that they done and we look to see them blossom in the future.”