WARNER ROBINS -- A week at football camp has turned into something big for a Huntington Middle School eighth-grader.

Jaylen Lowder attended the Offense-Defense Football Camp in Atlanta during the summer and was selected to be a part of the O-D Bowl Game week to be held Dec. 26-Jan. 1.

The group of athletes was selected from thousands who attended the camps.

The inaugural O-D Can/Am Games will have two All-American teams playing two All-Canada teams, according to a news release.

Lowder, who plays both offense and defense, said he was shocked when he heard the news.

“I was psyched,” he said.

The trip to Houston, Texas, and the Houston Texans’ Reliant Stadium, where the games will be played, will begin on Christmas Eve and end Jan. 2.

His mother, Tijawanda Lowder, who is a secretary at Huntington Middle, said Jaylen also plays basketball, baseball and soccer, but football is his first love.

She said her son would like to attend Auburn University and become a sports commentator.

His idols are Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens and LeBron James of the Miami Heat. He admires Lewis’s intensity while he wants to be humble like James.

“My mom’s always tells me to be humble because someone’s always better,” Jaylen Lowder said.

His former language arts teacher, Kizzy Johnson, said she has never met a more humble student.

She has seen Lowder encourage other players on the sidelines after a tough loss.

“He’s an awesome young man,” Johnson said.

Ever since he can remember, he’s been playing football.

His fondest memory is high-stepping into the end zone when he was 6 years old for his first touchdown.

Huntington Middle’s coach, Robert Beers, said he is proud of Lowder’s achievement.

“He plays several positions,” the coach said.

Lowder takes turns offensively at quarterback, full back and running back as well as linebacker and defensive end on the defense.

He was selected for the bowl game as a linebacker.

The O-D Can/Am bowl is part of the Offensive-Defensive Bowl Week events, which lead up to the televised Offense-Defense All-American Bowl featuring 88 of the top high school seniors in the U.S., according to the news release. It has featured current NFL professionals such as Cam Newton, Carlos Dunlap and Dez Bryant.