The Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl is rapidly becoming the counterpart to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. The game has an East vs. West format where junior football prospects are selected after competing in a combine modeled after the NFL’s annual college combine.
The combine allows for juniors to play in next year’s Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl. BYU linebacker commit Trajan Pili was invited to attend the junior combine held on January 2.
“Trajan was invited to the Semper Fidelis proving ground this past weekend and did really well on the drills/field all day and had a really good experience,” said mother Becky Pili.
Three linebackers that stood out during the combine were Mission Oaks High School (CA) linebacker Kevin Palma, Luke Taffuri of Notre Dame Prep (AZ) and Trajan Pili (NV).
“[He] came out as one of the top linebackers,” said Becky about her son.
Following the combine, Pili spoke to by national recruiting guru Tom Lemming, who has teamed up with the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl as part of the selection committee.
“He was invited to both the USMC combine as well as the Army All-American combine, but we were only able to swing going to Arizona due to scheduling,” Becky said.
As a tight end, Pili caught three touchdown passes and had 58 receiving yards. At the defensive end position, Pili had 79 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hurries, five tackles for a loss and three fumble recoveries in 11 games in the Northwest Conference.
The selection criteria for most high school All-American bowls are generally based on the student-athlete’s on-the-field performance. Those selected to play in the Semper Fidelis All-American bowl must exhibit not only strong on-field play, but demonstrate outstanding character, leadership and academic excellence in order to qualify.