Brook Hill's Jonah McCown signs with Limestone University.

JACKSONVILLE — Brook Hill’s Jonah McCown and Xavier Kendrick signed to play college football on Feb. 7 at Cornerstone Baptist Church.

McCown, a quarterback, will play at Limestone University in Gaffney, South Carolina. Kendrick, a defensive back, will play at McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas.

McCown is the son of Luke McCown, who was in the NFL from 2004-17 with the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys.

“I’m extremely proud of him,” Luke McCown said. “He’s worked really hard on it. He’s not been one of those that has kind of been ushered in. Since the seventh grade, he’s had to fight for it.”

McCown was the seventh grade B Team quarterback at Jacksonville and split time on the A Team in the eighth grade. He was the freshman team backup in the ninth grade.

“He didn’t play a whole lot then,” Luke McCown said. “There was a point between ninth and 10th grade where we had a heart to heart. I asked, ‘how bad do you want this? What do you want to get out of it?’ He said, ‘dad, I would really like to try to play college football.’ I asked, ‘are you willing to put in the work?’ He said, ‘yes sir.’ We worked a lot between ninth and 10th grade. Lo and behold, his 10th grade year, he was able to win the starting job for the JV in Jacksonville and played really well.”

“After my 10th grade year, that was my first full year as a starter,” Jonah said. “Just that feeling of getting to play and how fun it was, it drove me to get to where I am now.”

Jonah went to Brook Hill as a junior and senior. As a junior, he threw for more than 2,000 yards with 23 touchdowns.

Now, Jonah will go play for Limestone, which competes in the South Atlantic Conference in NCAA Division II.

“It had everything I wanted when it came to choosing a college,” Jonah said. “The system there is how I’ve always wanted it. The people there are amazing. The coaches are amazing. The program is awesome. It’s a winning program. Coach (Mike) Furrey is a great coach, and I’m excited to be playing for him.

Limestone was 8-4 this past season and advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs, where it lost to Valdosta State.

Jonah said he plans to major in kinesiology and would like to coach when he’s done playing football.

Kendrick played his last two years at Brook Hill after transferring from Jacksonville. He played wide receiver and defensive back for the Guard and will play free safety at McPherson.

“They welcomed me as soon as I went there,” Kendrick said. “They made me feel like I was at home. I had a talk with God, and it just kind of led me there, so that’s what I did, I committed there.”

Kendrick said he plans to major in finance.