Fowler, who has 186 career wins and led the Comets to the 1989 state 2-A championship, is serving as head coach for the North Carolina squad in the 72nd Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas Saturday in Spartanburg, S.C.

The game is set for 1 p.m. at Gibbs Stadium on the campus of Wofford College. South Carolina leads the all-time series 38-27-4 although North Carolina has won four of the past six.

The week will have a decidedly Clayton blue tint. Coach Fowler will not be the only Comet in Spartanburg on the N.C. sideline. Longtime Clayton manager Corey Blackmon is serving as a manger for the N.C. squad.

And former Air Force Academy and Clayton High standout Drew Fowler is also expected to speak to both teams before Saturday afternoon's game. Drew Fowler, who has spent this football season as a graduate assistant at Air Force, is one of the few players who were selected to play in a high school Shrine Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game for college seniors.

Fowler has seen more than 900 players either in person at the Shrine Bowl combines that were held last spring across the state or on film. But he pretty much stuck to letting his assistant coaches pick the players who would make up the N.C. roster.

"When I first met with the coaches in February, I assigned them a position area to coach and told them they'd pick their players," Fowler said. "These guys are all head coaches so they know football and I trusted their judgment. The only thing I tried to emphasize to them is that we wanted the best players we could find who we could take away from home a week and not worry about any problems."

It's a far cry from the staff that Fowler served as an assistant coach on 13 years ago. The 1995 team Fowler was a part of featured only 35 players and four coaches (including the head coach).

The staff Fowler will lead in Saturday's game includes six assistant coaches and 44 players.

"From everything I've seen, this is a good year for linemen in the state," Fowler said. "And if you're going to go in with a goal of running the ball and playing good defense, that's a good place to build your team."

The N.C. roster includes Fayetteville Jack Britt tackle Xavier Nixon, who is rated by some as a top-25 prospect in the nation, regardless of position, Penn State recruit Tyler Howle, a center, 6-foot-4, 295-pound Nick Allison of Asheville Roberson and 6-foot-7, 290-pound David Collins of East Forsyth.

So expect to see a solid dose of the ground game from the N.C. squad. Fowler knows the passing game must play a role as well and he thinks his team has weapons to hurt South Carolina over the top as well. But his running game roots still run deep.

"You talk to the coaches who have had success in this game and they all said the same things," Fowler said. "If you can run the ball and play solid defense, you'll have success."

South Carolina is expected to play a wide open spread style, making North Carolina's need for a heavy pass rush even more important.

"You're not going to out coach anybody in four days [of preparation for the game]," Fowler said. "You just hope you bring in the right kids. South Carolina's got a lot of speed guys and we know they're going to spread it out in the shotgun. They've only got three running backs on the roster." Although the game will be what most fans remember, it's the experience of the week that Fowler is looking forward to. He views it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"The opportunity to be a head coach in this game is the ultimate achievement; it's the experience of a lifetime," Fowler said.

"I was fortunate to get the chance before to come in and be an assistant coach. But to come back as a head coach is something that I'm so thankful for and humbled by."

The humbling part is what the Fowler family remembers most about their previous Shrine Bowl experiences.

"The thing that these kids are going to remember as much about this week as the game on Saturday is the trip to the hospital to visit those kids," Fowler said. "Drew still talks about it to this day. It makes you realize how fortunate we all are when you see the kids who are being treated.

"And to be able to go out and do a little part by putting on this game and raising money to support the things the Shriners do for kids is something that makes you very proud to be a part of high school football."