By Myra Bean

It was a happy day Wednesday at North Panola as they celebrated the football signing of Kenneth “KJ” Jefferson and Tyler Shorter. Wednesday marked the early signing period for high school and community college recruits.

Jefferson, a four-star recruit, signed a national letter of intent to play with the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Ark.

He had verbally committed to Arkansas before the season started. Jefferson is still glad he stuck with Arkansas, even though in the beginning it was a tough decision for him.

“I believe in the coaching staff there,” he said. “It was a tough decision at first, but when I experienced more and got on into recruiting, visiting Arkansas. I just made my mind up then.”

Jefferson was complimentary of Arkansas head coach Chad Morris who was is a former Clemson offensive coordinator.

“Coach Morris did the same thing when he went to Tulsa and Clemson. He uplifted two tremendous program and bought them to winning seasons,” he said.

He is the son of Katorie and James Moore and Kenneth Jefferson Sr. He is the grandchild of Jessie and John Wilson.

Jefferson led the team to the back-to-back North State championship games and 40-12 record over the last four seasons.

Jefferson amassed a total of 12,586 total yards including 9,654 passing yards and 2,922 rushing yards. He completed 502 of 876 passing attempts and carried the ball 383 times. He passed for 156 touchdowns, had 24 rushing and one receiving touchdowns. He had 18 two-point conversions. He had 25 interception and eight fumbles.

Shorter is the son of Betty Shorter and Roderick Roy. He signed a national letter of intent to play at University of Tennesee-Martin in Martin, Tenn. He spoke of the past seasons he played at North Panola.

He played both wide receiver and defensive back and expect to play defense at U. T. Martin under assistant head coach/defensive back coach  Dominique Bowman. Shorter said he is probably one of the top defensive back coaches in the nation.

“Coach Bowman was the first defensive coach at a D1 university to believe in me,” Shorter said. “When I went on my official visit, they showed love. I felt at home.”

While playing varsity the last three years at North Panola, Shorter had 73 catches for 1,658 yards, and 14 touchdowns. He had 10 carries and 120 yards.

He amassed 2,180 total yards including kickoff and punt return yards.

On defense, Tyler had 100 tackles, nine interceptions, and 17 pass deflections.

Because of his dual role with the Cougars, Shorter believes he brings something to the Skyhawk program.

“I can give a lot on both sides of the ball. I can play receiver, db. I have good ball skills. I can run,” he said.