A Selma High School Saint has decided where he’ll be lining up next fall.

Selma High School defensive end/linebacker Ezekiel Ufomado signed a scholarship on Wednesday to play for the University of West Alabama.

Ezekiel said to be able to sign a scholarship is truly a blessing.

“I thank God for every moment He gave me through high school,” Ezekiel said. “I’m thankful that He led me to this day.”

Ezekiel said he’s excited about going to West Alabama, and it’ll take hard work to achieve his goals.

“It’s a good school,” Ezekiel said. “It’s a good place to play. I believe that I can achieve my goals there. I just have to work harder, keep believing in God and do what I’m supposed to do.”

Ezekiel’s father, Udo, said he’s proud of his son’s accomplishment.

“To be honest, I’m very proud,” Udo said. “When he started playing football, it was like a joke. There was a guy, coach West, who saw him one day and said he’d like to use him for the little league. At first, I didn’t know anything about the game, it looked brutal to me, but eventually, we tried it out, and it got to this point.”

Udo said it’s a dream fully realized for the family, and he’s stressed the importance of moving forward academically to his son.

“For me, it’s a dream come true that my son achieved this,” Udo said. “Like I keep telling him, this is more than football because in the world we live in today, if you don’t achieve academically, you won’t have anything to fall back on in case something unexpected happens.”

Ezekiel’s mother, Rita, agreed that a good education is important, and believes West Alabama is the right place for her son.

“Our goal is for children to get an education to get better, us being the parents. Since we set the example and also since we know that whatever we do right now, we will reap from it later on in life,” Rita said. “I thank God because he [Ezekiel] loves playing football. So, to sign and go to get an education where you enjoy your hobby, I think that’s the best thing. That’s having the best of the whole world. I thank God that we listened and followed what he wanted to do, so he can sign to the right school. And wherever a child of God goes to, it gets even better when he gets there.”

Selma head football coach Leroy Miles said Ezekiel is deserving of the scholarship, and he hopes his signing will inspire other students.

“I’m very excited to see that Ezekiel Ufomado signed a football scholarship to play at West Alabama,” Miles said. “He’s deserving of it, works hard, and is just very excited about it. Hopefully, other kids can look at this and want the same for themselves, but it takes hard work to get to this point.”