Every high school athlete dreams of playing at the next level. Three Searcy football players saw this dream turn into a reality.

For one in particular though, football hasn’t always been his first love.

“Probably eighth or ninth grade, I was a basketball player at Harding,” Senior Desmond Stegall said. “When I finally got the chance to play for Coach Harper, to represent my school as a Lion, I just fell in love with football. I’m excited to get to play on the next level and I just can’t wait.”

After his tenth grade season, schools started to show interest in Stegall. One school stood out more than the rest, but the cards didn’t seem to be falling in favor of that school.

“I’ve wanted to be a Red Wolf, probably mid-season this year, after we beat Jonesboro and everybody showed me love down there,” Stegall said. “But I just really wanted to be a quarterback and I felt like they were just trying to take that from me.”

Stegall said at first ASU didn’t want him to be a quarterback, but Louisiana Tech gave him that opportunity, so he went with them originally. After much contemplation, Stegall decided to committed to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Two nights before he signed the letter of intent, the recruiting process took an unexpected turn.

“The night before we ordered all of our Louisiana Tech gear to have it in by signing day in the cafeteria, out of nowhere, Coach Malzahn called me and pretty much apologized for the situation,” Stegall said. “I understand it’s his first year being the head coach and his coaching style is new so I didn’t hold it against him. I still wanted to be a part of their team.”

After talking with Coach Malzahn, Stegall decided to take his talent to Jonesboro and become a Red Wolf. In his college career, he will still wear the number seven red, black, and white jersey that he wore at Searcy, just in front of a few more fans.