Andalusia High School senior linebacker Nico Johnson has been selected to play in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, next January.

The bowl is the nation’s premier high school football all-star football game where the nation’s top 90 high school football players face off against each other in an East versus West style bout.

Johnson was selected by the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Committee, which consists of SportsLink’s network of regional directors throughout the country, Rivals.com and Tom Lemming.

Johnson said it was “shocking” to be chosen out of so many top athletes.

“It’s a crazy honor,” Johnson said. “It’s crazy to be chosen as one of the 90 players out of a million. It was a big surprise.”

Johnson said he got to where he is now with the help of many different things, including hard work and his teammates.

“I got here through working hard and believing in my teammates,” Johnson said. “It was really my teammates that got me to where I am right now. I just worked hard and listened to my coaches and that’s all I could do.”

Andalusia head coach Brian Seymore said Johnson is deserving of the honor.

“He’s an outstanding player and an outstanding young man,” Seymore said. “This is a great honor for Nico and it’s a great honor for his family. It’s also a great honor for his teammates here at the high school.

“Nico is very deserving of this opportunity to go out there and represent Andalusia,” he said. “I think everything he gets he deserves. It’s a distinctive honor to be mentioned with names like Reggie Bush, Tim Tebow, Adrian Peterson and Vince Young. I want to wish Nico the best of luck in his future and I want to wish him all the best from Andalusia and the community.”

The 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl will take place on Jan. 3, 2009, and will air on NBC at noon, CST.