Action Sports Medicine Champions
Classic teams are announced for 2009

The 2009 Action Sports Medicine Champions Classic announces the participants for this year’s fifth annual event.  The Action Sports Medicine Champions Classic again hosts great Texas High School matchups, and for the first time in its history, it will include a college game in the four-game weekend.  Games are scheduled for Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday, Aug. 27th through Aug. 29th, 2009.

The Abilene Christian University Wildcats, ranked 5th in NCAA Division II pre-season polls, will host the Northwest Missouri Bearcats, ranked No. 1, in the opening game of the Action Sports Medicine Champions Classic, in a nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 27th. ACU was the Lone Star Conference champion in 2008, and the Bearcats are everyone’s pre-season favorite. This will also mark the first time a Champions Classic game will enjoy a nationally televised audience.

And for the second year in a row, both Abilene High School and Cooper High School will play at home in this event, in the same year.  Local football fans will get to see one of the perennial power houses in Class 5A, the Abilene High School Eagles, and the team that made a name for itself in Class 4A last season, the Cooper High School Cougars, ranked 19th in the state by Dave Campbell’s 2009 Texas Football magazine.  The Eagles finished with a 10-1 record last season, while the Cougars were 8-5.

The Cougars will play in game No. 2 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 28th, against the Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt Chaparrals. This is a rematch of last season’s Classic contest, won by Cooper, 33-0. Speaking of rematches, the Eagles will face the Fort Worth Dunbar Wildcats in game No. 3 at 11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 29th. Abilene won last year’s matchup, 58-14. This year’s contest promises to be closer since Dunbar wide receiver Darius White is everyone’s blue-chipper and the Wildcats are ranked 24th in the state by Dave Campbell. Both Wyatt and Dunbar are from District 7-4A.

The final matchup of the classic at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 29th is another rematch from last year. The Jim Ned Indians and Merkel Badgers will close out the action-packed weekend. The Badgers handed the Indians a 28-7 defeat last year. Both teams finished 2008 on a high note, ending with identical 7-5 records and making it two-deep into the UIL state playoffs.

The Champions Classic is in its fifth year and is promoted by the Sports Alliance Committee of the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is an affiliate of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, and sponsored by Action Sports Medicine and Rehab, along with Texas Chevy Dealers and WTU Retail Energy and other local sponsors.  The Sports Alliance was formed to increase the economic impact in the Abilene community through sporting events.  One goal is to raise money for scholarships awarded each year to graduating seniors from each of the local high schools.  To date, the Champions Classic has awarded $27,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors from Abilene High, Cooper High, Wylie High and Abilene Christian High schools.

2009 Featured Games

Game 1: Abilene Christian University vs. Northwest Missouri...............7:00 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 27

Game 2: Abilene Cooper vs. Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt.................................7:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 28

Game 3: Abilene High vs. Fort Worth Dunbar..........................................11:00 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 29

Game 4: Jim Ned vs. Merkel.......................................................................7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 29