Gordo celebrates as Davis receives UA jersey

The Gordo community gathered together in the high school gymnasium on Tuesday morning to celebrate one of its own.

Senior Ben Davis received an honorary game jersey for his selection to play in the 2016 Under Armour All-America Game, and the Greenwave made sure it was done in style.

Gordo's cheerleaders and band led the student body in a pep rally before the ceremony, and at the conclusion of the event, everyone swayed back and forth in unison while singing the alma mater.

"I guarantee you ours is the best of any Under Armour All-American when they recognize them, ours is as good as anybody, because we have such a close-knit school and such a close-knit staff, and our team is close-knit," Greenwave coach Ryan Lolley said. "We just try to look at it as a family, and today has just been exciting for everybody. Everybody is just tickled to death for Ben, and we are just excited for the rest of our season and what we are going to try to accomplish."

Davis is listed as the top inside linebacker recruit in the nation, top recruit in the state, and sixth overall in the nation by Rivals.com. He is averaging 9.5 tackles per game for the undefeated Greenwave (8-0), which is ranked second in the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association prep football poll. Last week he finished with 14 tackles and a touchdown reception in a 54-12 victory over Lamar County.

Receiving his Under Armour jersey in front of family and friends is something that Davis took great pride in.

"Putting on the jersey and just having that feeling of knowing I'm an All-American, I'm just glad that everybody came out," Davis said. "It's just really cool letting the younger kids see it, and know that even though it's small town Gordo, you can still do big things, so I'm glad everybody came out, and I'm really excited to get down to Florida."

The ninth annual Under Armour All-America Game will take place on Saturday, Jan. 2 at the Orlando Citrus Bowl and will be televised live on ESPN2 at noon ET.

"Today is just great for our football team, and that is the way Ben sees it," Lolley said. "Through his achievements and accomplishments, he's done something that recognizes our entire team, and it just helps build our chemistry, and that is the way our kids see it. They are excited for him, and at the same time he's excited for us, because he's brought so much to our town just by the things he's accomplished, and it's only helped. Everybody on our team has become noticed by a lot of people on tape, and we've had other guys get scholarship offers from colleges watching his tapes. Today has been so important."