Fulton's Josh Reams signed to play football for the University of Central Missouri Wednesday at Fulton High School.
Reams showed his athleticism with the Hornets by playing seven positions in his high school career -- outside linebacker, middle linebacker, defensive lineman, running back, quarterback, tight end and punter. According to Central Missouri football's Twitter, Reams will play linebacker at the college level.
While he missed most of his senior year due to injury, Reams had an impressive junior season with Fulton. That season, he had 92 tackles (38 solo, 54 assisted), six tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Ream's junior season culminated in him earning first-team all-conference as an at-large defensive player and punter and first-team all-district at linebacker. In his sophomore year, Reams was second-team all-conference as a punter and second-team all-district as a linebacker.
"He's a tough kid," Fulton football coach Dana Chambers said. "He's not afraid to hit anybody, to block somebody. He's got the ability to do a lot of different things defensively."
Reams is a selfless person off the field who's supported his teammates even while dealing with an injury. He has made it to just about every Fulton boys basketball game, supporting his football teammates in what's been a successful season so far.
Chambers described how he sees Reams as a person.
"I would say toughness, hard work, leadership, discipline," he said. "The love for the game; the love for his teammates."
All his hard work paid off, as Reams will be playing Division II football with the Mules, whose assistant is Chambers's father, Dana Chambers Sr. In Chambers' two years as the Hornets coach, Reams will be the first to play under the elder Dana Chambers.
Chambers Jr. shared what Reams will bring to Central Missouri.
"He's gonna go in and be a valued member of the team because he works hard," he said. "He's gonna do what he's asked to do. And he's gonna love it. He loves football."
With all that Reams had endured in his high school career, Chambers was pleased to see him continue his career at the college level.
"I'm just happy for him," he said. "When he injured himself that Week 2 against California, he was really upset about it. I just told him to continue to work hard to do what he had to do to recover. Get back to where he is, and he's still got a long way to go.
"I told him that his future -- things that he wanted to do as far as college football is something that he could do, and he did it. So proud of him and can't wait to see success."
Reams and Central Missouri will kickoff the 2023 season with a game against Missouri Western on Aug. 31 in St. Joseph.