Four Pine Bluff High School senior football players signed with various college teams Wednesday as part of National Signing Day.
Offensive lineman Blake Clark signed with Alabama A&M, defensive tackle Danny Johnson signed with Ouachita Baptist, linebacker Karveair Griffin signed with Arkansas Baptist and wide receiver Jason Jones signed with Texas College.
PBHS coach Micheal Williams said he was glad to see each of these players sign Wednesday.
“Danny Johnson had about 17 offers,” Williams said. “He had turned down some (Division I) programs to go to Ouachita Baptist. Of course Blake Clark, he signed a Division I offer to go to Alabama A&M. … Karveair Griffin, he did an awesome job coming in, playing for us for one year, and he changed the game. Then we had Jason Jones, he been with me all three years. Great receiver, great hands, and he gonna be explosive where he go.”
Clark, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound lineman, will take his talents to the Southwestern Athletic Conference. He was named First Team All-Conference in 5A Central last year after making 26 pancake blocks and not allowing a sack. He expects to play either guard or center.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
PBHS senior Blake Clark signed with Alabama A&M. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Tanner Spearman)He chose Alabama A&M over offers from schools such as UAPB, Arkansas State and Central Arkansas. The Bulldogs have a new head coach in Sam Shade after finishing 6-6 last season. AAMU won’t play UAPB this year after facing the Golden Lions the past two years, though the Bulldogs’ first game this fall will be against Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Huntsville, Ala., is home to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and the Marshall Space Flight Center, which Clark said was part of why he chose to play at AAMU.
“It catered to my major with the space and all that stuff,” Clark said. “I want to do engineering when I get older, so it really fit my major.”
Johnson will make the short trip to Arkadelphia to play for Ouachita Baptist in the Division II Great American Conference. He was a three-time All-State player for the Zebras and is coming off a senior season with 141 tackles, 30 tackles for loss and 16 sacks.
The Tigers went 10-2 last season, finishing tied with Harding for first in the GAC before falling to Central Oklahoma in overtime in the Division II playoffs.
Johnson said he wants to major in business with a minor in either music production or music engineering.
“After college, hopefully I can go to the NFL,” Johnson said. “I want to really get into songwriting, music production, be a performer, and also get into movie production.”
Griffin and Jones will be conference opponents next season in the NAIA Sooner Athletic Conference. Texas College defeated Arkansas Baptist 49-22 last season.
PBHS senior Karveair Griffin signed with Arkansas Baptist. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Tanner Spearman)This past season was Griffin’s lone year as a Zebra. He made 25 tackles with three tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Arkansas Baptist went 1-9 last season with a roster of primarily freshmen and sophomores.
Jones had 23 receptions for 297 yards and three touchdowns last season. Texas College, located in Tyler, Texas, went 7-3 last season and finished third in the SAC.
PBHS senior Jason Jones signed with Texas College. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Tanner Spearman)Williams said Clark, Johnson, Griffin and Jones were among 19 Zebras with at least one offer this season.
“We got a lot more coming to sign,” Williams said. “They had some visits to take, but these four guys did an awesome job. I’m very ecstatic about the product that we put out.”