By DAN BISER

The University of North Carolina football team will land its second player from South Columbus High School in as many years Wednesday morning when Stallion lineman Greg “Beast” Elleby is scheduled to make his official signing with the Tar Heels.

Wednesday is NCAA football signing day with many of the country’s top players expected to sign with their chosen Division I progams.

The 6-foot-5, 280-pound Elleby has been a three-year starter in the Stallion defensive line and has earned all-county and all-conference honors in each of the past two years. This past fall, he was named The News Reporter Columbus County Player of the Year and was also selected to the NCPreps.com 2A All-State team.

Elleby verbally committed to the Tar Heel football program last May.

This past fall, Coach Joey Price’s Stallions won its seventh Waccamaw Conference championship in eight years, advancing to the third round of the state 2A playoffs and posting an 11-2 record.

Coach Price calls Elleby “an outstanding college prospect.

“He has outstanding strength and quickness,” Price said. “He works hard every day and he has made it his goal to be successful at the next level.”

Elleby will join his former SCHS teammate Bryan Dixon on the Tar Heel squad. Dixon signed with Tar Heels last February after making a verbal commitment in the spring on of 2004. Elleby, a defensive back, was red-shirted during the Tar Heels’ 2005 season, playing an active scout team role in UNC practice sessions.

Coach Price reported that two SCHS senior players, running back Anthony “A.J.” Johnson and Garret Ward, have committed to joining the UNC-Pembroke football team that will begin preparations next fall toward fielding its first football team in over 50 years in 2007.