West's Goodman ready for final high school game

By: | SCNow
Published: January 03, 2009

Malliciah Goodman will put a cap on his high school playing career today and get ready for college.

The West Florence defensive end will take part in today’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

Following today’s game, Goodman will return to Florence and start his career at Clemson later this month when he enrolls for classes.

“To see all the great college and NFL players that came before me, it’s special to be a part of a game like this. I look forward to seeing what I can do against the best high school football players in the country,” Goodman said last month.

By enrolling early, Goodman will be eligible for spring practice, similar to the path DaQuan Bowers took for the Tigers last season. Bowers finished the year with 41 tackles for the Tigers.

Goodman is the first West Florence player to be selected for the ninth annual game and second from the Pee Dee.

Carvers Bay’s Clifton Geathers played in the contest, which has featured 93 NFL draft picks, eight Pro Bowlers and two Heisman Trophy winners, in 2006.

Goodman led the the Knights and the Pee Dee with 15 sacks. The senior defensive end also had 72 tackles, was named the Morning News Player of the Year, earned all-state honors and played in last month’s Shrine Bowl.

Goodman had six tackles in the South Carolina’s 24-16 victory over the North Carolina all-stars.

Goodman hopes to have a similar performance in today’s game and has impressed East coach Terry Smith this week in practice.

“He’s fast off the edge,” Smith told rivals.com. “We had to realign our offense to protect off that edge.”