Clarke Central High School football players, Zay Brown, Rico Arnold and Bryson Kearney, signed letters of intent to play college football on Feb. 1. Brown, who has played football at CCHS since he was in eighth grade, signed to play Division I football at the University of South Carolina. “(Brown) stays late. He stays after practice and it is no secret why he is (getting) a scholarship today,” head football coach David Perno said. “He put in the work and we could not be prouder of everything he did for Clarke Central.” Click photo to view gallery. Photos by Zoe Peterson.
By OLIVIA RIPPS – Sports Editor
On Feb. 1, Clarke Central High School varsity football players Zay Brown, Rico Arnold and Bryson Kearney signed to play collegiate football.
Clarke Central High School football players Zay Brown, Rico Arnold and Bryson Kearney all gathered with their family and friends on Feb. 1 to sign their letters of intent to play college football.
Brown signed with the University of South Carolina, Arnold with University of North Carolina Charlotte and Kearney with Kentucky Wesleyan College. Kearney signed his letter of intent first and was introduced by head football coach David Perno who spoke on him as a player.
“He stays late. He stays after practice and it is no secret why he is (getting) a scholarship today,” Perno said. “He put in the work and we could not be prouder of everything he did for Clarke Central.”
Perno then introduced Arnold.
“Rico worked through some tough times and worked through some injuries last year, but I could not be prouder of him,” Perno said.
Brown closed out the ceremony with his signing and was congratulated by CCHS Athletic Director Jon Ward.
“For those of who have been around for a while remember Zay coming in as an eighth grader for the C-team football program, and we really knew he was special then,” Ward said.
“And the important thing was that Zay understood his freshman year what he needed to do to get to right now.”
Arnold says he is thankful for his experiences at CCHS that helped him to prepare for his future at UNC Charlotte.
“Everyone (helped me get to this moment). My friends, family, the coaching staff, training staff, everybody,” Arnold said. “This is a great program that is coming together with Coach Perno. We are glad that we had such a good coach.”
