A pair of Bogalusa High School football players have been selected to compete in the NAACP All-Star Game.
Middle linebacker Keltron Harry and defensive end/center Mike O’Ree are playing in the all-star game that will take place Saturday, Jan. 19, at Southern University in Baton Rouge. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
Both players were first-team all-District 7-3A players this season.
Harry recorded 95 tackles, including 65 solo tackles with 10 for a loss, and he tallied two sacks.
“I’m excited. I get to go with my teammates and meet other people from different schools that are playing too,” Harry said.
Harry talked about the key to having such a solid year.
“It’s about being experienced and knowing the schemes of the other teams and studying them a lot,” he said.
O’Ree, who was a top-team all-district player at defensive end, made 63 tackles — 32 of them were solo and seven were for a loss. O’Ree had three sacks, forced a fumble and he posted a quarterback hurry.
“It’s a blessing. It’s a big accomplishment because coming out of Bogalusa sometimes you get overlooked by the bigger schools. I’ve met some five-star recruits and some four-stars. It’s a blessing. The coaches like me and I’m just going to put ‘Bog’ on the map,” O’Ree said.
O’Ree said he is excited about the game.
“I’ve barely been going to sleep because I’m just so excited to be able to participate in this event,” he said.
O’Ree also expressed his thanks to several people.
“I’d like to give a shout out to all of my coaches, even the ones who said I wouldn’t be able to play in college, to my family and my girlfriend (Precious Magee). I love y’all,” O’Ree said.
Bogalusa coach Adam Brumfield said he is happy for both of them.
“When I accepted the job, I went back and looked at defensive stats from last year,” he said. “When I saw that we only had about four players on our team that actually played and had stats last year, I was really concerned because I knew we were young.
“Keltron was a guy who had who looked the best in paper from last year and he didn’t disappoint any of us. As our MLB (middle linebacker), he helped line everyone up and called the defense for us. He’s a very football smart player, which is something that’s hard to teach, and he has a real love for the game.
“O’Ree kind of came out of nowhere and shocked everyone from coaches to even his father, Pastor O’Ree. Everyone knew he was going to start and that he was talented, but he didn’t have the stats on paper from last year like Keltron. He just kept getting better each week, which is what you like to see as a coach.
“His defensive coach Randall Ginn does a phenomenal job with those defensive linemen. Those kids are lucky they have the best D-line coach in the parish and Mike did a great job of being coachable and played with a ton of effort. As a coach, what makes me the happiest is to see kids succeed, and I’m very proud of both of them.”