MONTICELLO  – Head football coach for the University of Arkansas at Monticello Gwaine Mathews announced the signing of 14 high school seniors to join the Weevil team in the upcoming fall.
 
Seniors in high school everywhere formally announced today where they intended to play their collegiate football. Mathews and his staff pulled in five players from Arkansas, one from Texas, and eight from Louisiana.
 
“I feel this class addresses several needs that we had,” said Mathews, who will be entering his fourth season as the UAM head coach in 2008. “Hopefully, we filled the void in our kicking game with two very good kickers – one local, and one out of the New Orleans area.”
 
Those two kickers Mathews is referring to are Daniel Robinson (Warren, Ark.) and Derek Jambon (Marrero, La.). Robinson was named to Arkansas’ All-State team and the Pine Bluff Commercial All-Southeast Arkansas Football Team after connecting on 15-of-18 field goal attempts over the course of the 2007 season for Woodlawn High School. Jambon was named the most valuable player of the Louisiana 4A state championship game on his way to being named to the All-Distrist and All-West Bank teams during his senior season. Jambon made 9-of-11 field goal attempts during the 2007 season.
 
"I thought it was great that we got to re-group with a couple UAM alums,” said Mathews. “We got a couple young men from both Camden-Fairview and Bastrop (La.)…Coach James at Fairview and Coach Bradshaw at Bastrop both played on the same team at UAM.”
 
“We also got a special running-back out of New Orleans from Arch Bishop Rummel,” said Mathews. “His name is Andrell Johnson…he is a double-threat guy that played a lot of defense in high school and also averaged over seven yards per carry out of the back-field…That’s special.”
 
A complete look at UAM’s 2008 National Signing Day signees: