PALM BEACH COUNTY – It was an eventful day and night throughout our area on Wednesday (Dec. 16).

As almost a dozen of our area’s high school football seniors made their final college decisions official, we saw the advent of social media taking over Early National Signing Day like never before.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the protocols that are in place now, all media and spectators were strictly prohibited from being at most – if not all – of the signing ceremonies. Only close family members and friends of the signees were able to attend, with most of the happenings taking place from the comfort of their homes.

All of the development took place on social media, which began with American Heritage (Delray Beach) defensive end and No. 1 overall player Earl Miller signing his letter of intent to South Dakota at around 7:00 a.m.

Less than two hours later, the spotlight fell on Benjamin offensive lineman Andrew Weisz.

Live-streamed from Benjamin’s Twitter page, Weisz made it official by inking with Yale at around 8:15 a.m.

And then down in Boca Raton, defensive end Ashton Gillotte was flanked by head coach David Angell and defensive coordinator Jared De Freitas as he signed with Louisville. Ashton’s mother, Veronica Gillotte, shot and provided live footage from the signing ceremony from her home, which took place at around 9:00 a.m.

Next up was Palm Beach Lakes running back Antonio Outler, who signed with South Dakota at his high school around 10:00 a.m. Somehow, a photographer from the Palm Beach Post was there to shoot the Outler event at Palm Beach Lakes High School.

At some point yesterday, Jupiter defensive end Cristian Orth officially ended his college process by inking with Morehead State. It has been a week to remember for Orth, who led his team to a season-ending 34-0 home win over Park Vista to close out his high school football career.

And also yesterday, Suncoast senior athlete William Wells ended his recruiting process by signing with UCF. He chose the AAC school
over the likes of Utah, Syracuse, Washington State, FAU, and South Dakota.

But the most suspense from yesterday’s action took place in Pahokee, when IMG Academy cornerback and ESPN 300 player Markevious Brown surprised some folks by signing his letter of intent to Ole Miss.

Brown chose the SEC school over the likes of Miami, Virginia Tech, Auburn, and Arkansas.

The Pahokee native’s event took place at around 2 p.m., when it was presumed that the Under Armour All-American might stay close to home and go with Miami.

Meanwhile, just when we thought the action was going to end there, we got a late surprise from Under Armour All-American and linebacker Jaydon Hood.

The St. Thomas Aquinas standout was with his immediate family last night when he announced on social media that he was signing with Michigan. He was recently thinking about the possibility of waiting until February to sign, but made his mind up either sometime yesterday or earlier than that.

In all honesty, Hood’s signing ceremony was probably the most memorable one just because we were not sure if it was even going to happen.

Let us not forget: Hood spent most of his high school football career at Cardinal Newman. He may not be playing at a Palm Beach County school, but he is still from our area.

Speaking of the other signings:

•St. Thomas Aquinas senior offensive lineman Gunnar Hansen signed with Vanderbilt. He spent the formative years of his high school football career at Spanish River and American Heritage (Delray Beach).

•St. Thomas Aquinas senior defensive end RJ Sorensen signed with Louisville. He started out at Wellington and then transferred to University School before landing at his current spot.

•Bartram Trail senior quarterback Santino Marucci signed with Wake Forest. He was at Benjamin for three seasons before transferring to his current school in the offseason.

PHOTO CREDITS: South Dakota Football and Jaydon Hood