Fountain Hills High School’s Savion Boone signed a scholarship to continue his football career at Arizona Christian University on Wednesday, May 11. Boone played wide receiver and defensive back for the Falcons, but he’ll only line up as a receiver for the Firestorm.

Most everything in his recruitment process was new and surprising to Boone, and the signing ceremony was no different. This year was the first time the Falcons had a signing ceremony for future collegiate athletes inside the Falcons Nest, and Boone also did not expect a certain member of his family to show up and help him celebrate.

“To me, I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that we had this thing for signings, so I think it was pretty cool,” Boone said. “And I didn’t know my nana was coming, so that was cool, too.”

Boone was only a kick returner and defensive player as a sophomore, but he started on both sides of the ball his last two seasons. Since his junior season, Boone was one of the Falcons’ biggest offensive weapons, breaking school records and leading the team in total yards each of the last two seasons.

In game two of the 2020 season, Boone caught 12 passes for 275 yards, and he scored five touchdowns in the Falcons’ 48-47 thrilling win over Florence. According to Boone, he set new school records for single game yards and scores.

Boone had 129 yards on 10 receptions in the other four games in the shortened 2020 season for 404 total yards and an average of 80.8 yards per game. Boone finished his first year on offense with eight receiving touchdowns.

In the 10 games he played this past year, Bonne had 801 yards on 54 receptions, averaging 80.1 yards per game, and he scored five receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.

Boone received the same recognitions each of the past two years as a receiver. He was named a two-time All-Conference honorable mention, and a two-time All-Region first team selection.

Boone increased his defensive impact as well between his junior and senior seasons. Boone had one interception and 12 tackles in five games as a junior, but with double the number of games as a senior, Boone caught two interceptions, recovered two fumbles, blocked two field goals and had 48 tackles.

Boone did not start reaching out to college coaches until late in his senior season, and he did not have a lot of luck in his search. Boone had communicated with two other schools, one in Kansas and one in Pennsylvania, before he heard back from his first in-state school.

“I was new to it all,” Boone said. “I didn’t know how to contact coaches, so I was emailing coaches every other week. Multiple, multiple emails and I wasn’t getting a lot back, but then I sent ACU an email and they sent back, and that’s basically how I got the visit.”

Boone has wanted to play collegiate football since he started playing in the first grade, and he’s happy to pursue his goal. When he toured ACU, Boone was excited to learn they host an NFL Pro-day, and he liked the attitude from the coaching staff.

“No B.S.,” Boone said. “They got straight to the point, and they told us what they have at their school, and then everything was like that. It was perfect.”

ACU started their football program in 2014, and Jeff Bowen has been the coach since 2016. Under Bowen, ACU has a 36-14 record, and won the Central States Football League Championship in 2017. The Firestorm currently play in the Sooner Athletic Conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and last season, the Firestorm went 8-2.

Boone has career plans outside of the football field and said he wants to study business management. He said he has interest in real estate, interior design and he wants to flip houses for a living.

Boone said signing his commitment felt like saying goodbye to Fountain Hills, but his high school career will stick with him on his next journey. Boone also played soccer for the Falcons, and he has grown a lot in four years at Fountain Hills High School.

“I took what we had for granted, and I didn’t appreciate as much as I should of in my early years as a freshman and sophomore,” Boone said. “But then I started to feel a connection with my teammates and care about that more than winning and losing.”