| Marmaton Valley High photo Ethan Ericson, Marmaton Valley High senior, signs a national letter of intent to play football at Fort Scott Community College. On hand for last week’s signing were his parents (seated) Eric and Amber Ericson of Bronson and Marmaton Valley High head football coach Dan Uhlrich. |
| Marmaton Valley High photo Skyler Houk, Marmaton Valley High senior, signs a national letter of intent to play football at Fort Scott Community College. On hand for last week’s signing were his father, Kent Houk (left) and Marmaton Valley High head football coach Dan Uhlrich. |
MORAN — Marmaton Valley High seniors Ethan Ericson and Skyler Houk signed national letters of intent to play football next year for the No. 2 junior college team in the nation.
Fort Scott Community College’s Greyhounds lost to Blinn (Texas) Community College in the Citizens Bank Bowl, which was billed as the NJCAA national title game, at Pittsburg in December.
The 31-26 defeat was the only blemish on the Greyhounds’ record (11-1) in 2009 as they swept through the Jayhawk Conference.
Ericson was the MVHS Wildcats’ starting quarterback and a linebacker for two years. The 6-2, 200-pound senior was 71 of 137 passes for 1,388 yards with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. Ericson rushed for 229 yards on 75 carries with seven touchdowns and eight two-point conversions to his credit.
“Fort Scott has a good team and having my brother there, I already knew about the program and the school,” Ericson said.
Ericson’s brother, Garret Ericson, was a freshman offensive lineman on the FSCC team in 2009.
Ericson said he was excited about having the opportunity to play at the college football level. He said Fort Scott coaches had talked to him about moving to the tight end spot as well as work out at quarterback.
Houk, 6-4, 186 pounds, was a two-year starter for the Wildcats at tight end and defensive end. In his senior season, Houk caught 33 passes for 645 yards and had five touchdowns.
Both Ericson and Houk earned All-Three Rivers League Eight-Man honors as seniors.
“Going to Fort Scott gives me a chance to play college football but also I really like the school’s 18-month graduation plan, where students start classes in July and graduate by the next December,” Houk said.
Houk plans to major in engineering. Ericson said he was undecided about a major field of study.
Ericson is the son of Eric and Amber Ericson of Bronson. Houk is the son of Kent Houk of Moran.
“It all started for us with Garret Ericson. When we recruited Garrett, the work ethic of the Marmaton Valley High School football program showed up,” said Jeff Sims, Fort Scott Community College head football coach.
“We like what we saw in Ethan and Skyler and believe they will be contributors to our team. They will go through a transition — going from eight-man football to college football is tough — but we believe they’ll be able to compete in positions we put them in.”
Houk said the Fort Scott coaches told him they were going to move him to a wide receiver spot.
Defensively for Marmaton Valley, Ericson had 17 solo tackles and 33 assisted tackles while Houk recorded 42 solo stops and 25 assists plus had eight quarterback sacks. Houk had two fumble recoveries and three caused fumbles.
Ericson punted for the Wildcats. He had 14 punts for 449 yards, which was a 32-yard per punt average.
