Butterfield Chosen for USA Football Junior Team

Lake Hamilton quarterback Phillip Butterfield recently earned a spot on the USA Football Junior Team. Forty-five graduating seniors, who will play for 33 different college programs, earned the spots after being nominated by high school and college coaches. Butterfield, who signed with Arkansas State, joins players that inked with programs like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Baylor and others.

USA Football, the sport’s national governing body on youth and amateur levels, has built America’s first junior national team in the sport to compete in the eight-nation, four-continent 2009 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Junior World Championship in Canton, Ohio, from June 27-July 5. National football teams from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Sweden have qualified to join the United States to pursue the sport’s first world championship on the international junior level (19 and under).

Butterfield committed to Tulsa after his junior season but signed with Arkansas State in February. The two-time all-stater led the Wolves to back-to-back 6A State Championship Games, including last year’s win against El Dorado.

Butterfield passed for more than 2,700 yards and 23 touchdowns last fall and became the school’s all-time passing leader. He earned MVP honors of the state-title game and was the Little Rock Touchdown Club’s 6A Player of the Year.

The only other quarterback on the roster is Bryce Petty (Midlothian, Texas), who signed with Baylor. Petty, a three-year starter, had offers from Arkansas, Nebraska, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.

Cleveland St. Ingatius High School coach Chuck Lyle will coach the team. He’s engineered two USA Today “national championships” at 

Player   High School   Pos.   Ht.   Wt.   Hometown   College & Head Coach  
  Oday Aboushi   Brooklyn (N.Y.) Xaverian   OL   6-6   300   Brooklyn, N.Y.   Virginia; Al Groh  
  Robert Bell   East Grand Rapids   LB   6-0   222   Grand Rapids, Mich.   Toledo; Tim Beckman  
  Prestin Brown*   Grand Prairie (Texas)   DE   6-3   242   Grand Prairie, Texas   Texas State; Brad Wright  
  Phillip Butterfield*   Lake Hamilton (Ark.)   QB   6-2   210   Hot Springs, Ark.   Arkansas State; Steve Roberts  
  Kevin Cummings   Encino (Calif.) Crespi   WR   6-2   180   Culver City, Calif.   Oregon State; Mike Riley  
  Zach Cutkomp   West Des Moines Valley   RB   5-11   185   West Des Moines, Iowa   Northern Iowa; Mark Farley  
  Jamal Davis   Coral Springs (Fla.) Charter   WR   6-3   185   Coral Springs, Fla.   Florida Atlantic; Howard Schnellenberger  
  Tyler Dippel*   Hartford-Union (Wis.)   FB   6-4   250   Slinger, Wis.   Wisconsin; Bret Bielema  
  Aaron Dobson   South Charleston (W.Va.)   WR   6-3   185   Dunbar, W.Va.   Marshall; Mark Snyder  
  Tariq Edwards   Marlboro (S.C.) County   LB   6-3   215   Cheraw, S.C.   Virginia Tech; Frank Beamer  
  A.J. Ferguson   South Brunswick (N.C.)   DE   6-3   250   Southport, N.C.   N.C. State; Tom O’Brien  
  Brian Fields   New Castle (Del.) William Penn   RB   5-9   190   New Castle, Del.   Western Michigan; Bill Cubit  
  Noel Grigsby   Los Angeles Crenshaw   WR   5-11   175   Los Angeles, Calif.   San Jose State; Dick Tomey  
  James Hall   Las Cruces (N.M.)   RB   5-8   170   Las Cruces, N.M.   New Mexico St.; DeWayne Walker  
  Chris Henderson   Dallas Carter   DT   6-1   280   Dallas, Texas   Texas A&M; Mike Sherman  
  David Herman*   Cincinnati St. Xavier   LB   6-3   230   Cincinnati, Ohio   Holy Cross; Tom Gilmore  
  Pat Hinkel   Cleveland St. Ignatius   S   6-1   190   Cleveland, Ohio   Miami (Ohio); Michael Haywood  
  Storm Klein   Licking Valley (Ohio)   LB   6-2   225   Newark, Ohio   Ohio State; Jim Tressel  
  Corey Lillard   Bealeton (Va.) Liberty   S   5-11   205   Remington, Va.   Virginia; Al Groh  
  Mike Loftus   Anaheim (Calif.) Servite   P/K   6-2   190   Villa Park, Calif.   SMU; June Jones  
  Erik Lora   Miami Christopher Columbus   WR   5-11   175   Miami, Fla.   Eastern Illinois; Bob Spoo  
  Jordan Lynch   Chicago Mount Carmel   S   6-2   205   Chicago, Ill.   Northern Illinois; Jerry Kill  
  J.R. McConico   Los Angeles (Calif.) Venice   CB   5-9   175   Los Angeles, Calif.   SMU; June Jones  
  Jack Mewhort   Toledo (Ohio) St. John’s   C   6-6   285   Toledo, Ohio   Ohio State; Jim Tressel  
  Khaled Mheisen   Detroit Catholic Central   DL   6-5   290   Canton, Mich.   Undecided  
  Chris Norman   Detroit Renaissance   LB   6-2   225   Detroit, Mich.   Michigan State; Mark Dantonio  
  Matthew Page   East Chicago (Ind.) Central   OL   6-6   300   East Chicago, Ind.   Ball State; Stan Parrish  
  Chris Payne   Columbia (S.C)   S   5-10   173   Columbia, S.C.   South Carolina; Steve Spurrier  
  Bryce Petty   Midlothian (Texas)   QB   6-3   220   Midlothian, Texas   Baylor; Art Briles  
  John Plasencia   Tampa Jesuit   TE   6-5   245   Tampa, Fla.   Northwestern; Pat Fitzgerald  
  Jordan Poyer   Astoria (Ore.)   CB   6-1   180   Astoria, Ore.   Oregon State; Mike Riley  
  Aaron Price*   Bloomington (Ind.) South   OL   6-4   285   Bloomington, Ind.   Indiana; Bill Lynch  
  Tevin Reese   Temple (Texas)   WR   5-11   160   Temple, Texas   Baylor; Art Briles  
  Micajah Reynolds   Lansing (Mich.) Sexton   G   6-5   310   Lansing, Mich.   Michigan State; Mark Dantonio  
  Jordon Roussos   Carlynton (Pa.)   DE   6-4   240   Carnegie, Pa.   Bowling Green; Dave Clawson  
  Bryce Schwindt   Columbine (Colo.)   OL   6-3   280   Littleton, Colo.   Northern Colorado; Scott Downing  
  Brandon Sharpe*   Ocean Lakes (Va.)   DE   6-2   220   Virginia Beach, Va.   Syracuse; Doug Marrone  
  Brian Smith   Cuyahoga Falls (Ohio) Walsh Jesuit   OL   6-7   277   Medina, Ohio   Northwestern; Pat Fitzgerald  
  Kurt Stottlemyer   Bothell (Wash.)   S   5-10   165   Bothell, Wash.   Yale; Tom Williams  
  Evan Swindall   LaFayette (Ga.)   C   6-3   290   LaFayette, Ga.   Mississippi; Houston Nutt  
  Phillip Thomas*   Miami (Fla.) Edison Senior   CB   6-0   185   Miami, Fla.   Syracuse; Doug Marrone  
  Shamarko Thomas*   Ocean Lakes (Va.)   CB   5-10   198   Virginia Beach, Va.   Syracuse; Doug Marrone  
  David Wilson   Danville (Va.) George Washington   RB   5-11   192   Danville, Va.   Virginia Tech; Frank Beamer  
  Brian Winters*   Hudson (Ohio)   OL   6-5   310   Hudson, Ohio   Kent State; Doug Martin  
  Nick Zachery   Sheridan (Ind.)   CB   6-1   200   Sheridan, Ind.   Indiana; Bill Lynch 

Players selected for USA Football’s Junior National Team were nominated by high school and college coaches from around the country.  Roster selections are ultimately determined by USA Football’s coaching staff, which collectively possesses 33 state titles and 155 high school head coaching seasons of experience.

USA Football’s Junior National Team Coaching Staff:


  COACH   POSITION   HIGH SCHOOL  
  Chuck Kyle   Head Coach   Cleveland St. Ignatius  
  Steve Specht   Defensive Coordinator   Cincinnati St. Xavier  
  Gary Swenson   Offensive Coordinator   West Des Moines (Iowa) Valley  
  Tom Bainter   Running Backs   Bothell (Wash.)  
  Marcus Boyles   Wide Receivers   Wayne County (Miss.)  
  Ed Croson   Offensive Line   West Hills (Calif.) Chaminade  
  Jeremy Gold   Defensive Line   Ann Arbor (Mich.) Pioneer  
  Frank Lenti   Offensive Line   Chicago Mount Carmel  
  Chris Merritt   Defensive Backs   Miami Christopher Columbus  
  Allen Wilson   Linebackers   Dallas Carter