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The following local high school seniors have signed a letter of intent or made a verbal commitment to the following college programs.
West Valley Preps will update the list online if notified through the summer, and the Independent will update monthly in its publications.
Athletic directors, students and parents are invited to email rsmith@newszap.com with updates and pictures of student athletes signing from Cactus, Centennial, Deer Valley, Dysart, Estrella Foothills Glendale Prep, Ironwood, Kellis, Liberty, Millennium, Mountain Ridge, Northwest Christian, Paradise Honors, Peoria, Shadow Ridge, Sunrise Mountain, Valley Vista and Willow Canyon high schools.
Also, please email Richard Smith if any athlete is listed incorrectly or has changed the school he/she signed with. Or send updates or corrections to Richard via Twitter, his handle is @RsmithYWV.
FOOTBALL Player Pos. High School College
Jace Accurso LB Liberty Mary (N.D.)
Zeke Alonso WR Valley Vista Crown College (Minn.)
Edward Bojorquez OT Deer Valley Jamestown (N.D.)
Henry Brown RB Valley Vista Wheaton College
Grant Collins DT Liberty Mary
Travis Combs LB Cactus Hastings College (Neb.)
Conner Cordts QB Cactus Concordia-St. Paul
Jalan Early QB Millennium Fresno State
Tommy Ellis LB Mountain Ridge NAU (preferred walk-on)
Connor Farnsworth OL NW Christian Arizona Christian
Jacob Flaherty TE Cactus Jamestown
Brandon Fondong LB Millennium Rocky Mountain College (Mont.)
Joe Forney RB Liberty Trine (Ind.)
Trenton Foster LB Valley Vista Buena Vista (Iowa)
Jonathan HagEstad DB Willow Canyon Carroll College (Mont.)
Eric Haney CB Centennial San Diego
Josh Hovatter C Centennial Lake Forest College (Ill.)
Darvon Hubbard RB Willow Canyon Texas A&M
Jayden Jackson DE Shadow Ridge Carroll College
Marc Jacob RB Centennial Rocky Mountain College
Cameron Jones WR Millennium Simpson College (Iowa)
Kaiden Lansford QB Shadow Ridge Ottawa Arizona
Daryon Lee DE Valley Vista Maricopa Mustangs
Casey Lowe LB Shadow Ridge Concordia-Moorehead
Collin Lupinacchi DE Liberty Ottawa Arizona
Easton Meier QB NW Christian Ottawa Arizona
Isaiah Mercado OT Shadow Ridge Sioux Falls
Derek Miller S Valley Vista MacMurray College (Ill.)
Dyelan Miller WR Centennial Arizona
Jonathan Morris QB Centennial Rocky Mountain
Brady Murphy LB Millennium Redlands (Calif.)
Makai Obregon S Valley Vista South Dakota School of the Mines
Gabriel Ocampo DE Peoria Arizona Christian
Josh Ormond QB Willow Canyon Ripon College (Wis.)
Isaiah Pittman LB Li
Richard Smith Associate Editor | Surprise & West Valley Preps @rsmithYWV
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.