Xavier Nixon announces he’s headed to Florida at US Army All-American Bowl

The state’s top player, Xavier Nixon, from Fayetteville’s Jack Britt High School, announced he’s headed to Urban Meyer’s program at the University of Florida as the East beat the West 30-17 in Saturday’s US Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.

The East squad defeated the West, 30-17, in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl, taking the lead in the overall series 5-4. Quarterback Tajh Boyd and running back Bryce Brown led the way for the East and were named co-MVPs, earning the Pete Dawkins MVP Trophy. Boyd had three touchdowns and 187 passing yards. Brown had 146 all-purpose yards and caught two touchdown passes.

East offensive lineman Xavier Nixon at the post-game press conference: “The atmosphere here around this game and this week has been amazing. Meeting all these good people and making these relationships have been great. And the level of competition is much higher than anything in high school…(On selecting Florida) “The atmosphere, the school, the game, everything is great at Florida and I felt like that is where I belong. And the offensive line coach was an important part of my decision because he’ll be one of the most important people in my life for the next four years…It’s a relief to finally announce my decision and I am happy that I’m going to Florida…I’ve had the guys here trying to influence me otherwise, but I knew I wanted to be at Florida. (To which BRYCE BROWN, who is going to Miami, replied in fun: “And he is going to pay for that.”)

Notes & Quotes from Game Day:

Players Commit Live During Game: Eight All-Americans announced their college commitments live during the game: Christine Michael (Texas A&M), Xavier Nixon (Florida), Jon Bostic (Florida), Michael Carter (West Virginia), Bryce McNeal (Clemson), Brennan Williams (UNC), William Campbell (Michigan) and Adam Hall narrowed his choices to Oregon, Arizona and Cal.

Top Juniors Selected as first 2010 U.S. Army All-Americans: Ten of the nation’s top-rated juniors were announced today as the first selections to play in the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl, taking place next January in San Antonio, Texas, and televised live on NBC. The announcements were made during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, with six of the players making their announcements live on NBC. Markeith Ambles (Henry County High) McDonough, GA; Dillion Baxter (Mission Bay High) San Diego, CA; Robert Crisp (Chapel Hill High) Chapel Hill, NC; Michael Dyer (Little Rock Christian High) Little Rock, AR; Jake Heaps (Skyline High) Sammamish, WA; Malcolm Jones (Oaks Christian High) Westlake, CA; Marcus Lattimore (Byrnes High) Duncan, SC; Christian Lombard (Fremd High) Palatine, IL; Chris Martin (Bishop O’Dowd High) Oakland, CA; and Lache Seastrunk (Temple High) Temple, TX.

*from the US Army All-American Bowl web site*