Wharton, N.J. (Sept. 25, 2012) – Running Back Derrick Henry of Yulee (Fla.) High School was named the U.S. Army All-American Bowl High School Player of the Week, for the week ending September 22. Henry rushed for a state-record 502 rushing yards and six touchdowns, beating Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville, Fla) High School 45-28 on Friday night. Henry surpassed the single-game state rushing mark by one yard with his 502 yards on the ground. He also moved past Emmitt Smith into second place on the state’s all-time career rushing yardage list.
Henry was joined by some other outstanding players who earned U.S. Army All-American Bowl High School Player of the Week nomination honors. One nominee was Quarterback Mike Richardson of Marble Falls (Texas) High School. Marble Falls defeated Boerne-Champion (Texas) High School in a shootout 62-55, in which Richardson broke the all-time Texas state record for passing yards in a game with his 725 yard performance. Richardson’s performance ranks second all-time in the nation, 39 yards short of David Koral's legendary showing in 2000 for Palisades (Calif.) High School. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl High School Player of the Week was designed to recognize the nation’s top high school performance of the week. Football players possess a similar set of mental, emotional and physical strengths to Army Strong Soldiers. The winner will be announced each Monday, throughout the season and noted on www.usarmyallamericanbowl.com.
For more than a decade, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl has been the Nation’s premier high school football game, serving as the preeminent launching pad for America’s future college and NFL stars. Andrew Luck, Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, Ndamukong Suh, and Marcus Lattimore all made their national debuts as U.S. Army All-Americans. In the 2012 NFL Draft Andrew Luck became the first U.S. Army All-American Bowl alumnus to be selected with the first overall pick. The 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl drew a record crowd of 39,011 to the Alamodome, and was the most-watched sporting event on television over the weekend, excluding the NFL playoffs.
The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is owned and produced by All American Games, a New Jersey-based sports marketing and event management company. The U.S. Army is the title sponsor of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, and American Family Insurance is the lead national sponsor and presenting sponsor of the telecast on NBC. Other national sponsors include adidas, Rivals.com, San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau, Gatorade, SKLZ, NCSA, School of the Legends, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Lockheed Martin, Xenith, Battle Sports Science, Oakley, NewTek and Football University. National sponsors of the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band include NAfME: The National Association for Music Education, Drum Corps International, Jupiter Band Instruments and DeMoulin Uniforms.
For more information on the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and its related events visit www.usarmyallamericanbowl.com and www.goarmy.com/events/aab or the official Facebook and Twitter pages located at http://www.facebook.com/USArmyAllAmericanBowl and www.twitter.com/armyallamerican.
