The trend continues for the Eastside football team.

Earlier this month, on National Signing Day, four Eastside football players signed with NAIA schools to play college football.

Last week, offensive linemen Deavion McBride and Atonnis Ross joined the list of Rams to play football at the next level.

Then on Wednesday, the Rams held another signing ceremony at the Eastside Media Center and wide receiver Kaleb McKinnon, defensive end LeMarion Houston, and safety/nickel Orian Ellis Jr. did the same in front of family, teammates and friends.

Eastside finished 9-3 this past fall, including another first-round playoff victory, and the Rams won the Class 3A-District 5 title.

McKinnon (6’3, 193), who signed with D-II University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia, transferred from Colquitt County (GA) for his senior year.

“Rough start at the beginning, but the kid is a football player,” said Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins. “He was able to turn it on late in the season and do some great things for us. He’s fast, long, athletic type of receiver, a playmaker and we put him on special teams. I’m super excited that he decided to come over to Eastside and help us win some ball games this year.”

As a senior, he finished 12 catches for 280 yards, an average of 23.3 yards per reception, with a team-leading eight touchdowns.

Playing college football is something that he has dreamed of for most of his life.

“Really, since Pop Warner days, just wanting to play in front of a lot of people, wanting to get the spotlight, stuff like that,” he said. “It was probably after my sophomore year, I knew I would have the opportunity to play at the next level.”

Houston (6’2, 200) signed with Florida Memorial University, an NAIA school in Miami Gardens.

As a junior, he led the Rams with 6.5 sacks. He finished with 58 tackles and was second with 12 tackles for a loss.

However, he suffered an ACL injury and missed his entire senior year.

“That’s the type of kid who has faced a lot of adversity in life and he has overcome it,” Hoskins said. “Playing his freshman year, getting hurt, he missed his whole sophomore year, playing his junior year, and just getting started, and then missing his whole senior year, but a kid who never gave up. He kept working and working and working, and that’s just a true definition of somebody who just overcame and persevered. I’m super, super excited for him as well.”

Despite the setback, he was still able to pursue his dreams.

Houston, who received his first offer from Promise Prep after his junior year, developed a relationship with defensive line coach Lu’is Mcleod while Mcleod was at the University of Florida.

When Mcleod left for Florida Memorial University, he received his second offer.

“It was hard coming to every practice and every game, just watching them, feeling like I should be out there, but it turned into motivation going through physical therapy, hard to be ready, and I still got an opportunity to play what I love,” Houston said.

Ellis (5’10, 160), a two-year starter, signed with Warner University, an NAIA school in Lake Wales, Florida.

“It was just a good environment for me,” he said. “It was somewhere I felt like it was home. I talked to the coaches. He (head coach Dialleo Burks Sr.) made sure I was worried about all the right things, like I was going there to become more of a man and do what I need to do in school and things of that nature.”

He finished with 34 tackles and seven passes defensed his senior season.

“He got hurt his sophomore year, missed his sophomore year, came back, kept fighting, was All Area his junior year,” Hoskins said. “He started for us as a junior and a senior, captain, leader on the defensive side of the ball in the secondary, and a kid who just maximizes talent, maximizes his ability, and I’m super, super, extremely proud of him as well.”