ESPN RISE

Practice for the 2009 season begins in three weeks, and the Maryland Crab Bowl is five months away, but the Super 60 selections will get some early work in Aug. 1 at Athletic Republic.

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Mike Loveday

Forestville's DeOnte Arnett was named the most valuable lineman for his performance during the Crab Bowl.

The Maryland Crab Bowl is holding a mandatory combine at the Bowie (Md.) facility that will focus on physical and mental preparation for the season and the 2nd annual Maryland Crab Bowl.

According to cofounder Chuck Harmon, the combine will test athletes in the 20-yard dash along with other physical events, but "50 percent of this camp is going to be knowledge."

In addition, trainers will talk to athletes about nutrition and training.

"We're going to make this fun as well," Harmon said of the event that will run from 9 a.m. to noon.

A new wrinkle this year will be players committing to colleges during the game.

Harmon said he wants to get one athlete to commit to college on the air in each of the game's four quarters.

Ndubisi Ezekoye of John F. Kennedy (Rockville, Md.) is already expected to commit during the first quarter of this year's game.

This year's Crab Bowl already has Billy Cosh, Adrian Coxson and Josh Furman featured.

The Maryland Crab Bowl is a statewide all-star game that features teams from the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., area. Last year's event featured national recruiting prospects Jelani Jenkins, DeOnte Arnett and Travis Hawkins.

The D.C. team won last year's event 32-21.

ESPNRise encourages comments from its users. Leave a comment below. Mike Loveday covers high school sports for ESPNRISE.com. Mike can be reached at Michael.Loveday@espn.com