East Henderson quarterback Trace Goldsmith has signed to play college football for Mars Hill.

EAST FLAT ROCK – Mars Hill University is a place near and dear to East Henderson football coach Mac McMillan.

So it’s natural that a couple of his seniors would migrate there.

Eagles quarterback Trace Goldsmith and linebacker/lineman/tight end Jay Spencer are the newest additions to a seven-man Western North Carolina class for the Lions.

Goldsmith passed for 934 yards and 12 touchdowns with six interceptions last fall. East Henderson (1-10) won its only game Oct. 9 over visiting Brevard, 31-28. Goldsmith passed for 153 yards and a touchdown that night.

He missed three games due to a serious concussion and Goldsmith’s center was Spencer.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity for both of them,” McMillan said.

“I’m going to look forward to following them for the next four years. Both of them showed great senior leadership throughout summer workouts and the season. Trace probably would have passed for 1,400 or 1,500 yards (without the concussion). They are going to be hard to replace. We’re going into an offseason where I’ve gotta replace our quarterback, our center, and Jay did a great job for us as our deep snapper, too.”

As of Monday, the rest of the Lions’ local class was Enka’s Bryson Buckner, Pisgah’s David Mackey, Reynolds’ Aundreas Hill and Najae Buchanan and Swain County’s Jordan Cody.

McMillan was the offensive line coach at Mars Hill for the 2012 and 2013 seasons

Seniors from the Class of 2016 have until April 1 to sign.

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