AUSTIN, Texas - Our Sixth Annual All-American Bowl Game Classic was played on Saturday January 9 at the beautiful Palace Stadium at the Round Rock Independent School District facilities. Round Rock is a suburb of Austin, Texas and it is located just down one of the Austin freeways.

It was very cold for our practice on Monday and it was even colder on Tuesday, so it was very difficult to stay out in the cold for our much-needed lengthy practices. We all knew that without these lengthy practice sessions, the defensive teams would be ahead when game-time came and that is exactly what happened.

At the start of the game, the Team Captains met at the center of the field for the coin flip. The Captains for the West Team included #2 RB James McKinney (6-1, 205, 4.5) of Round Rock, Texas; #3 FS Deion Imade (6-0, 190, 4.42) of Rowlett, Texas; #7 QB Sam Carter (6-2, 215, 4.56) of Alief Hastings, Texas; and #25 LB Mitchell Osborne (6-3, 210, 4.52) of Southlake Carroll, Texas.

The East Team Captains included #25 End Will Tye (6-5, 235, 4.52) of Salisbury Prep School, Connecticut; #43 LB Martaze Jackson (6-2, 215, 4.46) of Demopolis, Alabama; #44 DT Roland Johnson (6-1, 255, 4.66) of Duncan Byrnes, South Carolina; and #65 OC Keli'i Kekuawa (6-3, 305, 5.2) of Keaau Kamehameha, Hawaii.

In the first quarter, neither team could make it back to the line of scrimmage and then they had to punt in a three and out. Then, right before the first quarter ended, #19 DE John Shepard (6-3, 225, 4.6) of Saint James, Louisiana intercepted a West pass and ran it 16 yards down to the ten-yard line. The West defense stiffened and kept them from scoring.

Leading the West defensive line was DE #16 Jimmie Lewis (6-1, 210, 4.5) of Peoria Centennial, Arizona; DE #64 Brandon Dornak (6-4, 250, 4.78) of Conroe Oak Ridge, Texas; DT #95 Darrell Green (6-4, 275, 4.8) of Austin High, Texas; DT #69 Nicholas Williams (6-4, 375, 5.3) of Baton Rouge Glen Oaks, Louisiana; DT #76 Cedric Howard (6-2, 255, 5.1) of Austin LBJ, Texas; and DT #72 Akere Akpan (6-1, 285, 4.9) of Fort Worth Western Hills, Texas.

The West also was aided by some outstanding linebackers, including #25 Mitchell Osborne; #11 Domonique Patterson (6-1, 210, 4.46) of Dallas Skyline, Texas; #19 Floyd Mattison (6-1, 200, 4.35) of Katy Morton Ranch, Texas; #48 Steve Maeweather (6-3, 210, 4.5) of Houston Sharpstown, Texas; and MLB #40 Dustin Elisara (6-2, 235, 4.56) of Kapolei, Hawaii.

The West secondary was led by FS #6 Darren Rideau (6-0, 205, 4.42) of Star Spencer, Oklahoma who made 9 tackles; FS #3 Deion Imade with 7 tackles; #21 SS Nick Mizaur (6-0, 195, 4.5) of Omaha Creighton Prep, Nebraska with 5 tackles and a 71-yard interception return; #1 CB LaKendrick Williams (5-9, 180, 4.4) of Houston Sharpstown with a 55-yard interception for a touchdown; CB #22 Steven Cannon (6-0, 180, 4.5) of Austin LBJ, Texas; CB #30 Chris Payne (5-11, 175, 4.5) of Houston Madison, Texas; FS #14 Aldon Hyder (5-11, 175, 4.5) Austin LBJ, Texas; #10 Dadrian Record (5-9, 170, 4.4) of Austin High, Texas; and CB #13 Delentra Burleson (6-0, 182, 4.5) of Austin High, Texas.

As the second quarter started, the score was still scoreless and it was much of the same as neither team could gain any yardage and were forced to punt by an outstanding defensive unit. Then with 12:09 left in the second quarter, West LB #25 Mitchell Osborne intercepted an East pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown and with the extra point kick good by #12 Kicker Braeden Loveless (5-10, 155, 4.9) of South Jordan Bingham, Utah, this made the score read 7-0.

It looked like the East was going to come back as #10 QB Aaron Aiken (6-5, 210, 4.7) of The Lawrenceville School, New Jersey hit #7 WR Armand Williams (6-3, 188, 4.47) of Slidell, Louisiana for a 55-yard gain down to the West 20-yard line, but on the next play, #21 SS Nick Mizaur intercepted a pass and returned it 71-yards down the sideline to the East 20-yard-line.

Then with 7:31 left in the second quarter, #7 QB Sam Carter hit #4 WR Reggie Travis (6-3, 176, 4.32) of Plaquemine, Louisiana with a 25-yard touchdown pass to make the score 13-0. With the extra point kick good by #20 Casey Amick (5-10, 165, 4.7) of Fort Worth Western Hills, Texas, this made the score read 14-0 in favor of the West.

On the ensuing kickoff, #7 Armand Williams returned the kick 38-yards and was tackled by Hybrid End #9 Damontre' Moore (6-6, 235, 4.6) of Rowlett, Texas.

Things could not have gotten any worse for the East as #1 CB LaKendrick Williams  picked off another East pass and ran it 55-yards back for another defensive touchdown. With the extra point by Braeden Loveless, the West took a 21-0 lead into the lockerroom at halftime. A short time later, Casey Amick kicked a 36-yard field goal, making the score 24-0.

With 6:40 left in the third quarter, #4 Reggie Travis caught a 35-yard pass down to the 10-yard line, but the East defense stiffened, and the West had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Braeden Loveless, making the score 27-0.

With 0:29 left in the third quarter, Aaron Aiken hit Armand Williams for a 42-yard touchdown. A two point conversion was tried by Hybrid End #25 Will Tye, but he was stopped just short of the goal, making the score 27-6.

The West threatened twice more as #7 Sam Carter hit #4 Reggie Travis for another 30-yard gain, down to the 33-yard line, but the East, with big plays by LB #43 Martaze Jackson; DT #44 Roland Johnson; DE #19 John Shepard; DT #95 Tyone Grove (6-1, 305, 4.9) of Loris, South Carolina; DE #40 Karrington Lewis (6-2, 230, 4.7) of Pelham, Alabama; DE #72 Gavin Stansbury (6-3, 235, 4.8) of Franklin, Louisiana; and DT #79 Gary Artiste (6-1, 255, 5.0) of Franklin, Louisiana held them without another score.

Quarterback #15 Blake Hollingsworth (6-2, 215, 4.62) of Baton Rouge University, Louisiana was outstanding in alternating with Sam Carter and he led the West Team down the field on another long drive. In that drive, however, he had at least one touchdown pass dropped and the East Team stiffened again.

Besides Martaze Jackson, the East had some other big-play linebackers, including #6 MLB Vivie Bojilov (5-11, 220, 4.58) of New Westminister British Columbia, Canada who had 9 tackles; #26 Nigel Terrell (6-2, 210, 4.46) of Pelham, Alabama with 8 tackles; #56 MLB Chris Marshall (6-0, 220, 4.6) of Franklin, Louisiana with 7 tackles; and MLB #52 Casey Chin (5-11, 215, 4.6) of New Westminister British Columbia, Canada who had 6 tackles.

The East Secondary was led by #23 FS Darius Knox (5-10, 170, 4.5) of Pensacola, Florida; #2 CB Daniel Foxwell (6-1, 170, 4.42) of Tallahassee Leon, Florida; #4 CB Orne Bey (5-9, 185, 4.42) of Monroeville Gateway, Pennsylvania; and FS #25 Tre' Celestine (6-0, 180, 4.5) of Baton Rouge Dunham, Louisiana. 

Then with 6:38 left in the game the East scored their second touchdown as #8 QB Jacob Morgan (6-4, 215, 4.7) of Austin High, Texas hit Offensive Game MVP Armand Williams on an amazing 91-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked, making the final score 27-12 in favor of the West.

The defensive leaders in the game included West DE Jimmie Lewis with 8 tackles, 4 hurries, 3 sacks, and a forced fumble; East LB Martaze Jackson with 12 tackles; 3 tackles for a loss; and two sacks; East DE John Shepard with 5 tackles, 2 1/2 sacks, an intereception, and two punts for a 44.5 yard average; West DE #80 Kedrick Dial (6-4, 220, 4.56) of Sulphur Springs, Texas with 7 tackles.

The West Team secondary leaders included Rideau who had 9 tackles and 7 tackles for Imade; while Mizaur had six tackles and an interception and LaKendrick Williams had 5 tackles and an interception for a touchdown. On the East Team, Knox had nine tackles while Foxwell, and Celestine each had seven tackles.

Four of the best athletes in the game played on both sides of the football for the East Team, including #3 Brendon Felder (6-0, 180, 4.33) of Monroeville Gateway, Pennsylvania; #22 Matt Deiana (5-8, 190, 4.4) of Lincolndale Somers, New York; #1 Ryan Williams (5-8, 170, 4.37) of Pelham, Alabama; and #5 Nick Jones (5-9.5, 177, 4.4) of Duncan Byrnes, South Carolina. They all played running back and cornerback. #18 Fabian Traylor (5-10, 200, 4.6) of Pelham, Alabama played only running back for the East Team.

In the cold weather, it was very hard to run for the running backs, but the West Team had some tremendous running backs in their stable, including #34 Terance Olds (6-1, 210, 4.5) of Star Spencer, Oklahoma; #6 Wesley Hudson (6-0, 190, 4.32) of Katy Morton Ranch, Texas; #2 James McKinney; #40 Jason Cormier (5-10, 190, 4.5) of Lago Vista, Texas; #29 Cameron Brown (6-0, 215, 4.5) of Austin LBJ, Texas; and #5 Gary Rodriguez (5-10, 180, 4.5) of Edinburg, Texas. All of these running backs averaged around 10-yards per carry as a senior.

Olds averaged 10.5 yards per carry on 126 carries as a senior as he led his team to the Oklahoma 4A State Championship; Hudson averaged 10.4 yards per carry; Brown averaged 8.8 yards per carry; Rodriguez averaged 8.6 yards a carry; while Cormier averaged 8.03 yards per carry for his team as they made the Texas 2A playoffs for the first time in their short history. McKinney averaged 17.8 yards per catch coming out of the backfield. 

The best running back for the West was #25 Brandon Bourbon, who was The Gatorade Player of the Year in Missouri,  this year, but he was recovering from a minor injury. Bourbon has already given a verbal to Stanford, but he may visit  Notre Dame with the new Irish Coaching Staff. MaxPreps lists Bourbon as the #1 yards per carry running back in the country with a 13.83 yards per carry average.  

Four outstanding wide receivers for the East Team included #24 Jazz King (6-0, 182, 4.35) of Duncan Byrnes, South Carolina; #9 Erik Buchanan (6-3, 196, 4.37) of Aberdeen, Mississippi; #12 Daniel English (6-3, 188, 4.47) of New Westminister British Columbia, Canada; and #14 Kenny Brown (5-11, 165, 4.4) of Lake Charles St Louis, Louisiana.

Buchanan ran an amazing 4.37 in the forty at the Super Combine on Sunday to go with his 4.01 in the pro-shuttle. King has a best of 3.91 in the pro-shuttle and English has a 4.09 in the pro-shuttle. Brown has a 38 inch vertical jump.

The West Team had some wide receivers that were found on Saturday, at the Super Combine, including #88 Elijah Cash (6-1, 180, 4.5) of Austin LBJ, Texas and #8 Thomas Coffman (5-10, 170, 4.4) of Austin High, Texas.

The best two Hybrid Ends in the All-American Bowl Game Classic included #25 Will Tye of the East Team and #9 Damontre' Moore of the West. I thought that these two players would be the Stars of the game, but the cold weather made it very tough to play on both sides of the football. Moore has already verbally committed to play for Texas A&M. He will probably play defensive end for the Aggies and we may never get a chance to see him catch a football. Tye has offers from most all of the BCS schools and we will probably see him catch a pass as early as next fall.

The best offensive lineman in the All-American Bowl Game as voted on by the coaches was West Team right tackle #77 Gerron Anthony (6-4, 320, 5.0) of Tyler John Tyler, Texas and he has already given Oklahoma State a verbal.

Others on the West Team offensive line included center #64 Robert Luce (6-3, 285, 5.0) of Dallas Episcopal, Texas; Center #68 Mason Y'Barbo (6-2.5, 285, 5.0) of Sulphur Springs, Texas; OG #65 Corey Schmidt (6-2, 280, 5.3) of Baton Rouge Catholic, Louisiana; OG #74 Jordan Jackson (6-3, 285, 5.0) of Fort Worth Trimble Tech, Texas; OG #75 Demiere Burkett (6-2, 285, 5.2) of West Mesquite, Texas; and OG #50 Ivan Shelnutt (6-1, 255, 4.9) of Leander, Texas.

The best offensive lineman for the East Team as voted upon by the East Coaches was OG #77 DeAndre Nelson (6-1, 320, 5.2) of Pensacola, Florida. His two teammates were not too far behind, including OT #76 Elliot Lowery (6-4, 285, 5.1) and OG #50 Jonathan Smith (6-2, 305, 5.1). These three offensive linemen helped lead their team to the 3A Florida State Championship.

Other East offensive linemen included center Keli'i Kekuawa; OG #55 Michael Felder (6-3, 275, 5.1) of Slidell, Louisiana and his teammate and center #73 Alex Hill (6-4, 320, 5.1).

I believe that we had the best kickers that we have ever had. I decided to let them all room together and they really enjoyed themselves. The West Team had #12 Braeden Loveless and #20 Casey Amick and both kicked a field goal. Loveless had three punts for a 41.5 yard average.

Loveless was the Top Rated kicker at the Ray Guy Camp when he averaged 70 yards per kickoff and made 90% of his field goals.

The East Team had #32 Denver Otteson (5-9, 170, 4.69) of Tonopah, Nevada and #8 Trent Luecke (5-8, 160, 4.9) of Baton Rouge Dunham, Louisiana. John Shepard also punted twice for the East and he averaged 44.5 yards per punt.

I think that Shepard is one of the Top Five punters in the country and Loveless is not far behind. Amick and Otteson are two of the top All-Purpose Kickers in the country. Luecke and Loveless are two of the very best kickoff kickers that I have seen in a long time.

In the Super Combine on Sunday before our first practice, we had some outstanding times in the pro-shuttle, including James McKinney with a 4.02; Erik Buchanan with a 3.96; Orne Bey with a 4.02; Delentra Burleson with a 3.97; Darius Knox with a 4.24; LeKendrick Williams with a 4.2; DT Darrell Green with an incredible  4.5; Aldon Hyder with a 4.29; Gary Rodriguez with a 4.29; Steven Cannon with a 4.3; Kenny Brown with a 4.29; OG Jordan Jackson with an amazing  4.6; Kenny Marshall with a 4.52; Jacob Morgan with a 4.43; and Dadrian Record with a 4.28.

We also had some outstanding forty times, including Buchanan with a 4.37; Travis with a 4.37; Foxwell with a 4.42; Tye with a 4.55; and Coffman with a 4.46.