Sparta grid coach Ambrosino added to High School All-American Bowl game staff

Hackettstown - Rob Ambrosino, Sparta High School head football coach, has been added to the staff of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which has many N.J. connections. Players Myron Rolle of Princeton and Antwine Perez of Camden are just two of the top 80 football players in the country who will clash in the nation’s premier high school all-star football game, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, at San Antonio’s Alamodome on Jan. 7. The game will be televised on NBC at 1 p.m. In addition to the two players and Ambrosino, the Bowl’s East team will feature three other N.J. coaches on the sidelines: Jim Benedict from Watchung Hills, Gregory Lusardi of Morris Catholic (Denville) and Greg Toal from Don Bosco (Ramsey). The head coach is Ted Ginn, Sr., from Glenville High School in Cleveland. The game is produced by Hackettstown based Sportslink, Inc., whose president, Rich McGuinness, is a Blairstown resident. Now in its sixth year, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl introduces football fans to future collegiate stars and provides college fans with a glimpse of how their recruiting seasons have fared. Myron Rolle, a running back and defensive back at the Hun School in Princeton is committed to Florida State, where he will likely play cornerback. In his career at Hun, Rolle amassed nearly 3,000 yards rushing, over 50 receptions and more than 40 touchdowns. Antwine Perez, a defensive back and quarterback for Woodrow Wilson High School, is headed for USC. Perez recorded impressive statistics on both sides of the ball, completing more than 50 percent of his passes for almost 2,000 yards and rushing for nearly 400 more, while also swiping several interceptions. Perez also excelled as a kicker, averaging 38 yards a punt and clicking for over two dozen PATs. The week-long celebration of high school football has become the single most important recruiting event of the season because of the elite level of competition that is displayed each year. In 2003, Chris Leak’s live college commitment announcement on the sidelines set a precedent. The 2005 telecast of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl featured a record 17 on-air commitments. The game has also grown into a series of events that, with the support of the U.S Army, now includes the U.S. Army National Combine (Jan. 7, 8), the U.S. Army Cheer Bowl (Jan. 5), the U.S. Army Band Competition (Jan. 7), the U.S. Army Game-Day Clinic (Jan. 7), the U.S. Army Coaches Clinic (Jan. 6,7), and the U.S. Army All-American Awards Dinner (Jan. 6).