Pike Lib senior Marquese Christian signed a scholarship to play football at Shorter University on Thursday.

The popular athlete was surround by the entire student body for the ceremony.

“I was really nervous,” Christian said. “Nobody has ever done it in front of the entire student body before.”

Afterwards, he was still humbled by the event. “There are just a lot of emotions,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming. I decided about a year and a half ago that I wanted to do this with football. Dreams come true.”

Christian was a two-sport player for PLAS, splitting time between football and his favorite sport basketball. When the time came to make his decision, Christian knew what he wanted to do.

“I decided to do it late,” Christian said. “A lot of people didn’t think it was going to happen. I knew the whole way that it was going to happen. I will be going to Shorter to play with my cousin and, hopefully, with my brother.

Pike head football coach Gene Allen said the honor couldn’t have gone to a better student.

“His first year was my first year here,” Allen said. “We have grown up together. He is a great kid. He is has done every thing that we have asked of him. He is great in the classroom. He has everything it takes to play. I think he will do a great job at Shorter. I think he will contribute right off the bat because that is they type of player and athlete he is.”

Christian was one of the state’s top receivers during the 2015 season. He hauled in 63 catches for six touchdowns, earning him a first team all-state nomination.

“He works hard, and he works hard in the weight room,” Allen said. “He has gotten a lot stronger, and he is going to do a tremendous job for Shorter.”

Christian is looking forward to calling the Rome, Ga., campus home.

“It’s in a big city about an hour away from Atlanta,” Christian said. “It’s an up-and-coming program. They didn’t have a good season last year, but we have a new head coach coming in. They sold me when they said I would be getting some early playing time. They were on me the entire time, telling me how much they wanted me. It was great.”

And, he took one last time to thank his classmates and the students and school family at Pike Liberal Arts.

“I just thank them for rocking with me all four years that I have been here,” he said. “It was really just a blessing.”