On Wednesday afternoon, one of the top defensive players in the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area from the Class of 2025 got the chance to play Division-I college football when Union County’s (Lake Butler) Gavin Jenkins signed with USF.

An hour later just down the road in Gainesville, the top overall player in the area, Buchholz’s Nick Clayton, inked with Wisconsin.

“It’s the biggest thing ever,” Clayton said. “I’m happy that I finally got it done, finally got to sign those papers and know that I’m on my way to another big part of my life.”

He comes from a long line of collegiate athletes in the Clayton family, including his brothers Marcus and Matthew who played for Buchholz.

“The first time I ever really remember talking to Nick was after his brother, in his class we lost to Niceville in the regional semifinals in 2020, and he was going to be coming in as a ninth grader that next year and I just remember the first thing I said to him on the field,” said Buchholz defensive coordinator Chuck Bell. “His brother was crying, and I was kind of consoling him and then Nick walks over and I just really quickly patted him on the back and said, ‘you’re next,’…and I’m glad that we were able to help him fulfill his dreams and play at such a quality place.”

Clayton (6’5, 210) is the No. 41 overall prospect in Florida according to 247Sports.

“Nick is probably the twitchiest, most explosive kid that I’ve coached at that position, and I’ve coached some really good ones, Chris Rumph II, who plays for the Chargers, but Nick sets himself apart in his speed,” said Buchholz football coach Mark Whittemore. “He’s a high 4.5 guy. He’s got really impressive speed and height at 6’5, so not only is he tall but he’s really fast.”

Last year as a junior, Clayton finished with 52 total tackles, eight tackles for a loss, three sacks and 10 quarterback hurries. He surpassed last year’s numbers early in the postseason with 57 tackles, six sacks, and 12 tackles for a loss through 11 games.

Whittemore called him a “ferocious, explosive, high motor type player.”

“That’s why he’s a 4-star going to Wisconsin,” he said.

Defensive tackle Elijah Daniels (6’3, 300) signed with Austin Peay.

“It’s amazing,” said Daniels, who became the first commitment for the Governors following a visit at a camp last year. “Many people don’t get this opportunity with the transfer portal in college and so just putting pen to paper really excites me.”

Whittemore is impressed with Daniel’s strength on the defensive line.

“He’s probably one of the strongest nose 1-techniques in the state,” he said. “The kid plays like a bull moose in that position. He has not played his best football yet. He’s got a lot of great football in front of him. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he does.”

Daniels only had 30 tackles as a junior for the Bobcats, but he was at that number (28) this year after 11 games.

“Elijah came in as a guy before his junior season, I had heard of him from the area and knew that he was a guy that physically was one of the more dominant and varsity-ready defensive tackles in our area,” Bell said of the Santa Fe (Alachua) transfer. “I think where he has blossomed the most is the idea of playing disciplined football. He really embraced the idea of film study, of what we really teach in practice throughout the week.”

The senior had a near scoop and score in the regional semifinals against Pace, returning a fumble to the 6-yard line, and in last week’s region final win against Oakleaf (Orange Park), he had a strip sack and a 23-yard return for a touchdown.

Daniels, who will be playing tackle and end for Austin Peay, got a taste of big boy football, and he made big time plays.

“Playing against Pace, a pretty good O-line, playing #63 (junior Grant Wise, the No. 13 interior lineman in the nation), a pretty big guy so just going in there and just thinking, ‘yeah, let’s work,’ and just get after it…against Oakleaf, E-Walk (Evan Walker), he sacked him, the ball came out, I just saw it, jumped in there and got on top of the QB and ran. I had Nick in my ear yelling, ‘go, go, go,’ and God-willing I got in the end zone.”

On the offensive side of the ball, center Kain McDonald (6’2, 300) signed with Coastal Carolina.

“Every kid that plays football dreams of a day like this and it came true for me and that’s due to the school, my support system, and hard work,” he said.

He’s a part of an offensive line that averages over 400 yards of total offense.

“Kain is one of the strongest kids and most athletic kids that I’ve coached at the position,” Whittemore said. “He’s 300 pounds and runs like a deer, so he makes a lot of plays down the field. He’s an impressive player from the standpoint that he’s got great pass block techniques, he’s got great run blocking, but he’s also able to get down field and make blocks 10, 20, 25 yards down the field. He’s one of the most impressive kids I’ve seen do that.”

McDonald even found the end zone, scoring on a 1-yard run in a regional playoff win against Evans (Orlando).

“Honestly, it was a joke for about a week,” he said. “We talked about it during the bye week before the first round of the playoffs and then we actually practiced it one time on Wednesday and Coach Travis (McGriff, offensive coordinator) came up to me during a walk through on Thursday and said, ‘hey man you’re officially on the play sheet,’ and I thought there was no way they were going to call this play and we ended up calling it and I was like, ‘I’m getting in the end zone no matter what,’ I’m scoring a touchdown.”

Offensive line coach Matt DiBernardo called him “one of the most dynamic offensive linemen that I’ve ever been around and definitely ever coached.”

“We’ve done things with Kain at the high school level that we’ll never be able to do again,” DiBernardo said. “He was making the actual play calls on the line of scrimmage, telling (quarterback) Trace (Johnson) the times where we should run the football, we would, based on the front, he would be our puller and our trapper, which is very significant for a center at the high school level. He’s really good.”

DiBernardo said he’s “super athletic and has everything that you want.”

“He’s athletic, he’s smart, he’s strong, he’s tough, he’s a leader, what a pleasure to coach,” he said.

Their stats up front are directly related to McDonald, and the play of Clayton and Daniels on defense are reasons why Buchholz (10-3) is hosting Osceola (Kissimmee) in the Class 6A state semifinals on Friday.