CHOCOWINITY — Southside running back Lawrence Brown joins an elite rank of high school athletes Saturday when he travels to AT&T Stadium — the home of the Dallas Cowboys — to compete in the Blue-Gray All-American Bowl. He joins fellow North Carolina natives Melvin Briggs, Brock Wright and Charlie Loya as Tar Heel representatives for the East.

The game is an opportunity for Brown to suit up one more time. He last played back on Dec. 4 in Southside’s regional final loss to eventual champion Plymouth.

“I’m hoping that I do a really good job,” Brown said. “I’m going to be excited. A lot of adrenaline is going to be pumping, but I’m hoping I can stay focused through the whole game. Hopefully, no matter if they have me returning punts or kickoffs, I can show out in some kind of way and make some plays happen so I can get looked at by somebody, noticed by some college hopefully.”

More so than that, he gets to lineup beside and against some of the top prospects across the nation. That’s important to him not only because he gets to measure himself against other top players, but also because he’s still trying to get noticed.

“I looked at some of the people on the roster and most of them are committed,” he said. “One guy is committed to LSU and another has Oregon on his back tail. Another one is going to Michigan. There’s going to be some big talent out there.”

Brown got invited to a combine at Proehlific Park in Greensboro. He had to go through a pair of them to be deemed an All-American. He earned two medals at the first combine: one for first place in the broad jump and another for second place in the 40-yard dash.

His performance at the first combine earned him an invitation to the second at the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center in Richmond, Va. He excelled again with a second-best 40-yard dash time (4.49 seconds). He also had the best broad jump among running backs and the second best overall (9’9”).

“They told me they’d tell me in about a month or two. A month or two came and I got a letter in the mail saying I was an All-American for the East team,” Brown said.

His speed was one of the most impressive things about his game. Brown said that some coaches considered lining him up as a slot receiver simply because no one would be able to keep up with him.

“(The coaches) were giving me good feedback, especially concerning my speed and how good I was running the routes,” he said. “It was a pretty fun experience.”

The coaches he has the opportunity to work with have extensive backgrounds at both the collegiate and professional level. Pittsburgh Steelers veteran Barry Foster is the coach working with the running backs. He played in the NFL for five years and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection.

Players from last year’s game went on to play for powerhouse programs such as Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and TCU. Brown hopes that such a large stage can help boost his recruiting stock.

The game will be streamed on a delay at ImpactFootballNetwork.com.