
Calvin Ashley has been at four high schools, but Orlando is his home and he expects a lot of supporters for the Under Armour All-America Game here. (Photo: Under Armour All-America Game).
ORLANDO — They might need three sections for Sunday’s Under Armour All-America Game at Camping World Stadium. One for the relatives and friends of the Team Highlight players, another for the Team Armour fans and a last one just for Calvin Ashley’s supporters.
Ashley is well-traveled. The 6-6, 330-pound ALL-USA first-team offensive lineman spent his first two seasons at Dr. Phillips (Orlando), then spent time at IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) and The First Academy (Orlando) before playing this past season at St. John’s College (Washington, D.C.).
“I know I’ve been a lot of places, but this week, I’m home, playing for my friends and family,” Ashley said. “There are going to be a lot of people. I had 150 tickets and only have 10 more tickets left. I have childhood friends, teachers and a lot of people coming, including family. It’s going to be big, my last high school game.”
Ashley is hoping for a better finish to his high school career than his last game at St. John’s. The Cadets lost 34-29 in the championship game of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference when DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) rallied from a 15-point deficit with a little more than seven minutes to play.
The game ended early, with 29 seconds to go, when Ashley had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. He suffered a concussion attempting to make a tackle following a DeMatha interception.
“That DeMatha game was crazy,” Ashley said. “The (concussion) wasn’t that bad. My trainer had to make sure everything was all right. I’m good now.”
He said he is a solid Auburn commit and has an official visit coming there later this month.
He’s also looking forward to playing in practice this week against former IMG teamamtes Josh Kaindoh and Robert Beal.
“I want to play great and I want to compete,” Ashley said.