FORT MILL – Two Nation Ford football players have signed letters of intent to play college football.
Running back Nathan Mahaffey and punter Seth Richardson will be heading to different schools next season.
Mahaffey, 18, will be staying close by and heading to Limestone College in Gaffney. He said he is undecided with his major, but is leaning towards sports management.
The 5’10” 180-pound senior used his speed and quickness to elude defenders to total about 3,000 yards rushing at the varsity level in three seasons. Mahaffey said Limestone won out for his talents over Newberry College and Gardner-Webb University.
“It was a good environment,” he said. “It felt like the right place.”
This past season, Mahaffey rushed for 1,635-yards his senior year in 11 games with 12 touchdowns. In eight games his junior year, he was selected for the Shrine Bowl, just the fourth Nation Ford player to be picked for the honor. He set the school record for most yards in a game with 277 against Chapin his junior season.
“Nathan set the standard on what a running back should be at Nation Ford,” said Falcons’ head coach Michael Allen. “Limestone got a good one with him. At the end of the day, it is about an opportunity and hopefully, he will seize the moment. He certainly has earned it.”
His rushing ability was just one aspect of his game. He was also called on to catch passes as well. He caught 40 passes in his three years for nearly 500 yards to go with five more touchdowns. At Limestone, he might be called on to do a lot of different things as well.
“I can play the slot if I need to and get speed on the outside,” he said.
Limestone has a couple of running backs on their roster already, but Mahaffey said he is ready to compete to play.
“I could go up there and start,” he said. “If things don’t go my way, they could redshirt me.”
For Richardson, 18, he will be heading to the Midwest to play at Aurora University in Aurora, Ill.
“It looked like a great place to go and they had my major in athletic training,” he said.
Like Mahaffey, Richardson looked at Gardner-Webb and Bluefield College in Virginia. At 6’1” and 180-pounds, Richardson has been punting since he was in the eighth grade.
“I like the freedom in it,” he said. “You can practice anywhere. It is an underrated position. You can completely change the game.”
Richardson punted for 2,666-yards on 74 punts on varsity over the past two seasons and put 24 punts inside the 20-yard line. He also had a career long punt of 52 yards. Richardson works with personal coaches former NFL kicker Dan Orner and NFL punter Jordan Gay on his craft.
“Aurora has really hit one out of the park with Seth,” Allen said. “He is a very humble and quiet person, but he is a ferocious competitor. He has worked so hard and is so determined.”
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
Richardson will be taking his talents up north and playing college football in Illinois. He has worked with two previous NFL players to develop his punting skills.
