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During the early signing period, a trio of Cerritos College football players put ink to paper, as they signed their National Letters of Intent. The group included freshman quarterback TJ McMahon (Rice University), sophomore defensive tackle Anthony Shipton (University of Illinois) and sophomore long snapper Kenny Miller (Lake Erie (OH) College). As a team, the Falcons had just 28 sophomores this season and expect about 20 more guys to sign by the end of the school year.

McMahon's story was chronicled here, and is another in a long line of quarterbacks to earn a scholarship after playing for the Falcons. Last year's quarterback, Isaiah Bravo, spent last season as a red-shirt at the University of Texas, El Paso.

As for Shipton, he was immediately enamored with the Illini and head coach Lovie Smith upon his trip to Champaign, IL. A massive force in the middle of the defensive line, Shipton had the ability to force teams to adjust their offense to avoid his presence. He finished the season with 40 tackles (16 solo) to go along with 5 1/2 tackles for loss, four quarterback sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and deflected a pass. He was instrumental in the defense holding back Ventura College deep in Cerritos territory in their postseason bowl win and was named the Defensive Player of the Game.

According to defensive coordinator Tom Caines, "His biggest reason for being more productive this year was he played at 320 in 2018 and 285 this season. His technique was a huge improvement, also. When Ship is healthy, he's very difficult to block one on one at our level. He played a little injured this season and needs to get completely healthy. He is the type of guy who rises to the competition. It will take a little time to adjust to Big 10 level but he will definitely impact the Illini."

"I am so proud of Shipton," said head coach Dean Grosfeld. "He has done some great things on the field and come a long way in growing up on and off the field. He defines what this is all about for the coaches. Mentoring, teaching and watching these guys grow into men and success stories. Anthony is a big teddy bear that is a beast on the field. I'm very proud of him and he'll be a Falcon for life."

One of the reasons that the Falcons connected on 32 extra points, 11 field goals and had just one punt in 35 attempts blocked was the consistency of Miller. A two-year starter, he was in on every special teams play and is the second straight long snapper to sign with Lake Erie College after Zach Schoenberger signed after the 2016 season. He's also the son of Ken Miller, who was a Falcon punter from 1990-91 and a teammate of Grosfeld.

"Ken was almost perfect in his career long snapping for us," stated Grosfeld. "Sometimes the best compliment you can give someone is that you never knew he was there because he did his job ever day and on every play. His job goes unnoticed by most and at times, and we even took him for granted. But he's the best long snapper we have ever had. His full-ride scholarship is well-deserved. His dad was a teammate of mine, so things have come full circle. He appreciate both of them for being great members of the Falcon family."