VALDOSTA — Wednesday is college football’s Signing Day, and as usual, there will be a handful of local players signing their letters of intent.

Wednesday is the first day high school seniors can officially sign with schools. As a result, hundreds of young men across the country will be signing scholarships today.

Lowndes, which has won the Class AAAAA state championship the last two seasons, will have nine players signing today.

Winning state championships the past two years has helped the Vikings attract attention from colleges. Last year, eight Lowndes players signed on Signing Day.

“Playing on TV (in the state semifinals and finals) certainly hasn’t hurt,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said.

Hometown Valdosta State will be adding some Vikings. Three-time All-Region safety Jermel Demps and All-State offensive linemen Andrew Dunn and Will McPherson are expected to sign with the Blazers today.

Lowndes quarterback Doug Belk will be going to Carson-Newman, where his athleticism could fit well in the Eagles’ splitback veer offense. Fort Valley State will be getting a couple of Lowndes’ top defenders, All-State nose tackle Stan Summers and All-Region linebacker Antonio Townsend. Georgia Military College will get running back Lynn Williams and safety John Barner. Left tackle Devin Rice will sign with Savannah State. Kicker Kurtis Schmidt has several colleges interested in him.

“I’m very proud of all these guys,” McPherson said. “They have all worked hard, and that work they’ve put in has paid off.”

Another thing McPherson is proud of is that all of the players signing today, except for the two junior college signees, have academically qualified for college.

“These kids going to the universities are full qualifiers. They have the grades and the test scores. That is something we’re very proud of,” McPherson said. “They’ve gotten it done in the classroom, as well as on the football field.”

Lowndes will also sign three players — fullback Stanley Dickson, cornerback Stevie Harden and defensive tackle Asmar Ceasar — at a later date.

Across town, Valdosta will sign at least six players this morning, and possibly as many as eight.

Jim Martin, a 6-foot-5 All-Region offensive lineman, is going to Georgia Southern. Playmaking All-Region wide receiver Steve Dawson is leaning toward West Georgia. West Georgia will also be getting Valdosta offensive lineman Andrew DeLong.

Defensive tackle Dedrick Miley is headed to Tennessee Tech. Keir Moore, who was All-Region on the defensive line but projects as either a linebacker or a fullback in college, has narrowed down his choices to Fort Valley State, Shaw or Savannah State. Strong safety Jarvis Stokes will sign with Shaw. Brandon Wrice, who is looking at Valdosta State and Fort Valley, and Antonio Bellamy, who may go to Edward Waters, could also sign today or down the road.

It will be the third straight year Valdosta has had at least six players sign. Including this year, Valdosta has had 27 players sign letters of intent in the last three years, thanks in large part to the work of assistant coach Welton Coffey, who has been in charge of helping players get recruited. Coffey estimated he sent out about 90 recruiting tapes this year.

“We’re doing our best trying to help these kids out,” Coffey said. “Any money these kids can get, and these parents don’t have to pay, is good. We’re proud of these kids, who have earned these opportunities.”

Clinch County, which played primarily underclassmen this year, will have one player signing Wednesday. Defensive lineman Edric Tolbert will sign with East Central Junior College in Mississippi. Tolbert is the second Clinch player to go to East Central; linebacker Paul Tolbert played there in 2004 and 2005 before signing with Baylor earlier this month.

Madison County expects to sign two players today, with more expected to sign later. The biggest Madison signing this spring will be two-time All-State running back Desmond Gee, who has received several offers from Division I schools. The Cowboys had 19 former players playing college football this season.