Carthage U.S. Army All-American Isaiah Golden Honored at Tuesday Ceremony

CARTHAGE -- Carthage senior Isaiah Golden received his U.S. Army All-American jersey Tuesday from Army representatives at a ceremony at Carthage High School.

Golden is a 6-foot-2, 315-pound senior defensive tackle and is committed to Texas A&M. He has 67 tackles, four sacks, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and a team-high 31 tackles for loss, which ranks second in East Texas behind Van's Syd Moore (36). Golden is the anchor of a Carthage defense that has produced more tackles for loss than any team in East Texas and has held opponents to fewer than 260 total yards per game.

"He's a great player, there's no question," said Carthage coach Scott Surratt. "He's probably the most talented defensive lineman that I've ever coached. We've had so many great ones that it's hard to compare them to other ones, but I've never had an Army All-American defensive lineman.

"We've had a linebacker, a wide receiver, and I've had a quarterback and another linebacker at Texas High, but he's my first defensive lineman."

Surratt was referring to Edward Pope and Kendall Thompson, who represented Carthage in the 2012 and 2011 games, respectively. Pope is a freshman receiver at Texas A&M, while Thompson is a sophomore linebacker at Texas. Surratt also coached U.S. Army All-Americans Ryan Mallett (2007), a quarterback now with the New England Patriots, and former Texas linebacker Dustin Earnest (2006) while an assistant at Texas High.

"That's a special thing," Surratt said of having Carthage represented in three consecutive U.S. Army All-American Bowls. "It's a tribute to our athletes and our program and everybody involved."

The 2013 event, which will be the 13th in its history, is Jan. 5 at noon and will be televised on NBC from San Antonio's Alamodome. High-caliber high school players from across the country are selected to participate.

Golden and Carthage (10-2) face Silsbee (10-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Class 3A Division I Region III championship at Lufkin's Abe Martin Stadium.