Before Caden Cooper and Cole Ford became close friends and senior leaders for the Flowery Branch football team, the pair opened their high school careers at Mill Creek High in Hoschton. Their friendship grew after different circumstances led each of them to Flowery Branch, and that bond will continue on another football field in Illinois later this year. Cooper and Ford, who have known each other since middle school football, signed their National Letters of Intent on Wednesday morning as a part of National Signing Day and will enroll at Division II McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill this fall.