Cullman's Savannah Moss, front and center, signs a letter of intent Wednesday to attend and play women's soccer at the University of Mobile. The senior is accompanied up front by her parents, Sandra and Kevin. Standing are principal Elton Bouldin, athletic director Mark Stephens, coach Jacob Brown, and grandparents Joan and Harvey. 

National Signing Day at Cullman was a big day for one of the Bearcats’ bigger student-athletes.

One of their smallest, too.

Brady Wix and Savannah Moss each took to a crowded high school lecture hall Wednesday to ink national letters of intent with respective NAIA programs. Wix, a 6-2, 305-pound defensive lineman, penned with Lindsey Wilson College football, while Moss, a 5-2, 115-pound defender, signed with University of Mobile women’s soccer.

Wix’s road to a scholarship was made rather rocky when he suffered a season-ending hip injury on just the third play of his junior campaign.

Wednesday’s signing made it all worth it.

“It’s awesome that I got injured my junior year and I’ve come this far,” he said. “I knew God was working in mysterious ways, and this is the light at the end of the tunnel. This is incredible. I had faith the whole time.”

Wix liked Lindsey Wilson’s small Kentucky campus and was truly sold on the Blue Raiders when a few football representatives made the trek to his home last Wednesday.

The program’s recent success in the Mid-South Conference didn’t hurt matters, either. Fresh off a 10-3 season and Football Championship Series (FCS) quarterfinals appearance in 2014, Lindsey Wilson finished its latest fall 8-3 after a first-round loss on a last-second field goal.

Wix played defensive end — and occasionally served as a blocking fullback in Cullman’s Bearcat package — last season but said he’ll move inside to defensive tackle at the college level.

Cullman coach Mark Britton pointed out Wix also spent some of his younger years at quarterback.

Until he outgrew the position, of course.

“But what he never failed to do is find a way to try to help the football team wherever he could,” Britton said. “Just a great attitude and great work ethic. Just an outstanding young man. We’re very proud for him.”

The coach discussed how important a player’s junior season tends to be in the recruiting process. And, in Wix’s case, there was zero film to show from that all-important time frame.

With a hard-working kid like Wix, it ultimately didn’t matter.

“He never got discouraged,” Britton said. “He does a good job in the classroom, as well as the football field. He’s just kind of a total-package guy. He’s a team player. He’ll do whatever.”

Wix was the area’s only football player to take part in National Signing Day, though colleges could still come calling for West Point’s Kobe Smith, Cullman’s Justin Patterson and Addison’s Levi Hammack, among others.

Wednesday’s ceremony was a long time coming for Moss, whose soccer career began at the young age of 4 or 5.

“It’s really exciting, because now it’s official that I’m going somewhere and I’m going to get to play in college,” she said. “Ever since I first started playing, I’ve had big dreams to play somewhere. I just wasn’t exactly sure where.”

Like Wix, Moss is a big fan her college choice is a small school with a close-knit team and campus. And, also like her signing counterpart, she’ll jump right into a program sporting a winning track record in recent years.

The University of Mobile ended the 2015 season 19-3 and ranked third following a two-overtime quarterfinal loss in the team’s sixth consecutive NAIA national tournament appearance. Along the way, the Rams won their second straight Southern State Athletic Conference title and held opponents to less than two goals in all but one win, including 10 shutouts.

That bodes well for a feisty defender like Moss, who also has a knack for scoring off corner kicks.

“Somehow, little 5-foot-nothing Savannah Moss heads the ball past everybody,” Cullman coach Jacob Brown said with a laugh. “I don’t understand it, but she does. She finds a way to get in there.”

Brown, who took the reins from his dad and current assistant, Greg, remembers meeting Moss when she was in the eighth grade. He described her as “tiny” at around 4-foot-6.

Though not quite as tiny these days, Moss has since grown leaps and bounds as a soccer player.

“I’m ecstatic. I knew she’d find a way to get somewhere,” Brown said. “She actually exceeded my expectations, which is always a good thing. She probably has the best work ethic out of any kid I’ve ever met. Whenever she wasn’t playing club or something, she was playing with the boys at Heritage Park. There aren’t many girls that do that.”

Moss, a key piece on highly ranked Cullman’s second-round playoff squad a spring ago, was quick to reciprocate the praise.

“When I first started playing, I didn’t really know as much as I thought I did,” she said. “But when coach Browns, both of them, took over, they really taught me a lot. And they got me into club soccer. That really helped my game.”

Moss and Cullman’s soccer programs are less than a week away from the start of the 2016 season. The boys will get going next Monday against Homewood, while the girls will open Tuesday versus Fairview. Both debuts will be at home.