By Tom Waddill
Jared Williams thought he was in trouble when Huntsville football coach Mitchell Coey recently called him into his office.
Turns out there was no need for Williams to fret. Coey had good news for the talented senior who played tight end for the Hornet varsity football team the last two seasons.
When Williams nervously sat down, his coach played a taped message from someone representing the Space City Classic, an all-star football game scheduled March 8 at the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium.
“The lady on the voice mail said I had been selected to an all-star game in Houston,” Williams said Thursday while getting ready for track season on a chilly afternoon. “We went to the Web site and looked at the roster. I got a form, filled it out and sent it in. I should get a practice schedule tomorrow.”
Williams, who has verbally accepted a scholarship offer from Rice, was invited to the first Space City Classic along with many of the Houston area’s top seniors. Already confirmed to play in the game are Waller’s Eddie Brown, Xavier Webb of Montgomery and Katy quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell.
Invited but unconfirmed are quarterbacks Andrew Luck (Houston Stratford) and Jeramiah McGinty (North Shore), running backs Jacquizz Rodgers (Lamar Consolidated) and Sam McGuffie (Cy-Fair) and linebackers Kyle Mangan and Ryan Roberson (Brenham). Offensive lineman Luke Poehlmann of Brenham has also been invited.
“This is really exciting,” Williams said. “This was one of the goals I set for myself way back last summer, to play in an all-star game.
“I want to go out and represent Huntsville well in the game. Hopefully, I can do something big.”
Attempting to bring together the best high school football players from Houston and surrounding areas, the student-athletes for the Space City Classic were selected by an impartial panel of experts on Houston high school football.
Sam Khan from the Houston Chronicle, Todd Freed of High School Sports Live, Matt Malatesta of Rivals.com and KTRK’s Bob Slovak selected the game’s athletes based on athletic ability and overall statistics.
Williams and four of his teammates were also invited to participate in an all-star game in Hawaii. In order to participate in that one, Coey said players must pay travel expenses that exceed $2,200.
“Trey Rollins, Jared Williams, Trevor Brazil, Riley Smith and Chris Thomas were all invited to play in Hawaii,” Coey said. “We got a letter in the mail for all of those guys. If they are interested in playing in Hawaii, it costs $2,295 for the whole week, which isn’t bad for a trip to Hawaii. Too bad they can’t take their head coach.
“They’ve got all-star games like this everywhere.”
Houston did not have a game for high school seniors until the Space City Classic kicked off its operation. The folks who are organizing the game thought the time was right to bring together the top talent from big schools and small schools, public, private and charter schools, too.
“Everything in Texas is huge and high school football is no exception,” said Karton Zawolo, executive director of the Space City Classic. “We will celebrate the most talented teens and send them off to their collegiate careers in true Texas style.”
The game will be coached by current and retired Houston football legends who chose to give back to the community by donating their time to help develop some of the Houston area’s top student-athletes.
