East’s Xavier Kelly ready for U.S. Army All-American Bowl

For years, Xavier Kelly envisioned himself in games like the one he’ll play in Saturday, and beyond.

Now, finally in the moment, Kelly, a defensive end from East, feels right at home among the nation’s elite high school football players at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

The game will be nationally televised on NBC, with kickoff scheduled for noon.

“It’s been a blessing,” said Kelly, who committed to top-ranked Clemson in July. “Just meeting a lot of players committed to different schools from around the nation and spending time with them has been great. It’s all a new experience.”

Kelly, 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, is a four-star recruit and the No. 18-ranked defensive end in the country, but didn’t get much of a chance to show what he could do on the football field his senior year as he battled injuries and East went 1-8.

“The main thing I’ve focused on, this week, is to live in the moment and have fun,” Kelly said. “I’ve watched this game on TV for a long time and I think it’s great that there’s a showcase like this where people around the nation can watch us play.

“For me, it’s given me a chance to compete against the top players in the country, and I think I’ve done really good. I’m excited to play Saturday, excited to have my family watch me play and I want to make them proud.”

Clemson faces Alabama in the College Football Playoff Championship on Monday in Glendale, Ariz.

Kelly is one of three Clemson recruits in the game, but the only one on the West team. Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and running back Tavien Feaster, both five-star recruits, are playing for the East.

“I’ve been hanging out with them a lot,” Kelly said. “(Lawrence) is enrolling next week and (Feaster) is going after he graduates, like me. We talk about a lot of random stuff, a lot about the game on Monday.”

Kelly is the third player from East to play in the U.S. Army All-American game following Baltimore Ravens linebacker Arthur Brown in 2008 and Seattle Seahawks running back Bryce Brown, who earned co-MVP honors in 2009.

In the last 15 years, the game has featured 223 NFL Draft picks, including Heisman Trophy winners in Alabama’s Derrick Henry and Florida’s Tim Tebow, and one No. 1 overall draft pick in Andrew Luck.

“I knew the history of the game, of all the great players, because I’ve watched it so much,” Kelly said. “It’s exciting to be a part of it. I think if we execute what we need to do, it’ll be a good game.”

Kelly’s trip also took him away from East’s basketball team for two games. The Aces are the defending Class 6A champions and lost their first game of the season to Kapaun on Tuesday, without Kelly, and face Heights on Friday night.

“(East coach Joe Jackson) knew about this before the season started, and he supported me going as much as anybody else,” Kelly said. “He told me it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I needed to be here.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 4:16 PM with the headline "East’s Xavier Kelly ready for U.S. Army All-American Bowl."