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Ellet senior Aaron Male is among eight SportsInk.com-area football stars who signed with NCAA Division II Walsh University in North Canton.

AKRON, Ohio -- On Tuesday, Ellet football coach Joe Yost confirmed that the "Firestone Four" -- Timonte' Anderson, DeDonte Cheatham, Dierre Smith and Larry Sullivan -- will play for the Orangemen this upcoming season.

The four former Firestone Falcons attempted to become eligible at Buchtel following the 2010 season, but were denied by an OHSAA ruling. Anderson and Smith were first-team All-City performers for Firestone last year.

“They transferred to Buchtel, and there were some ineligibility issues with the different transfer rules, but they’ve landed here at Ellet,” Yost told SportsInk.com's Ray Horner.

Program Manager for Athletics for Akron Public Schools, Joe Howard, said the players were able to regain eligibility at Ellet due to academic reasons.

“They were ineligible to go to Buchtel, but the superintendent could transfer them to any other school in the district if there was a program (at the new school) that was not available at Buchtel,” Howard said.

Ellet apparently fit the bill, but Howard said he did not know what specific program allowed the transfers to go through.

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"Certainly it's our goal to blend these young men with the existing Orangemen and to come up with a great team," said Yost, preparing for his 33rd season as Ellet's head coach. "August 1 football starts officially. Well, whoever is sitting in the Orange Field House on August 1, they are Orangemen."

Yost also shared that the four, all seniors, are in good standing academically and that the OHSAA is OK with the transfers.

The four players had been in a sort of football limbo this summer as their athletic futures were unclear. The players left Firestone for Buchtel in December 2010; however, the OHSAA ruled them ineligible in April. The players had resided in the Buchtel cluster, but were attending Firestone and playing for longtime City Series coach Tim Flossie.

The Griffins defeated the Falcons 38-25 last October in a winner-take-all City Series championship game in Week 10 and then advanced to the Division III state championship game, falling to Columbus Bishop Watterson 13-12.

Flossie later accused Buchtel of recruiting the four players away from Firestone.

Buchtel coach Ricky Powers, a star running back for Flossie at Buchtel on state championship teams in the late 1980s, denied the allegations.

Calls to the OHSAA were not returned prior to this article’s publication.