Oil Bowl Selects Four From GISD
Article Date: May 28, 2008
Four Garland ISD football players have been chosen to participate in next month’s 71st Oil Bowl, the annual Red River grudge match between the best high school players in Texas and Oklahoma.
Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 21, in Wichita Falls ISD’s Memorial Stadium.
The GISD selections, all from different high schools, will join a select group of only 37 players invited to join the Texas roster.
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District 10-5A MVP Nick Florence will play quarterback for the Texas squad. The 6-2, 190-pound South Garland Colonel broke 10 GISD records during his playing days, finishing with more than 8,000 yards and 87 touchdowns. Florence also ranks second in a class of 460, maintaining a 4.66 GPA. He signed with Baylor University
Naaman Forest’s Joe Jenkins-Dill, who signed with Southern Nazarene University (Okla.), earned first team All-District 10-5A honors in 2007. The 6-1, 265-pound defensive tackle was a solid presence on a NFHS defense that finished the season ranked 14th in the Metroplex. He is also on the powerlifting team.
A.J. Maddox (5-10, 180) will represent Lakeview Centennial HS. Maddox was a unanimous first-team All-District 10-5A defensive back in 2007 and second team Academic All-State. The three-year varsity starter was voted him team MVP last season. Maddox has maintained a 3.85 GPA and will play for Columbia University of the Ivy League.
Giorgio Walton, a 6-1, 180-pound linebacker from Rowlett, notched 148 tackles, 18 TFL, 5 sacks and 5 forced turnovers in 2007. He was named All-District 10-5A in football while also competing in basketball. Walton earned the English department’s Academic Award as a junior and has not yet committed to a college.
This year’s GISD Oil Bowl selections are the latest in a long line of representatives from the district, which has produced two game MVPs.
In 1981, North Garland defensive tackle Bill Heathcock earned defensive MVP honors by anchoring a unit that limited Oklahoma to just 13 second-half yards in a 27-3 win. In 2000, Garland’s Chris Sims kicked three field goals – including an Oil Bowl record 60-yarder – to lead Texas to an 11-9 win and claim offensive MVP honors.
Texas defeated Oklahoma 31-16 last year and leads the series 44-17-1.