Valdosta High stars Malcolm Mitchell and Jay Rome will be two of the standout football players competing in the Under Armour All-American Game tonight in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The game will begin at 7 p.m. at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, and will be broadcast on ESPN.

The Under Armour All-American Game is considered one of the top high school all-star games in the country. Ninety of the top high school football players in the United States have been chosen to participate in the game.

Both Rome and Mitchell will be playing for the White team when it faces the Red team.

Rome is rated the No. 1 tight end in the country by scout.com and the No. 2 tight end by ESPN. In 2010, Rome caught 45 passes for 555 yards and seven touchdowns for Valdosta, and was also a strong blocker for the Wildcats. He was a first-team All-State selection for the second consecutive season.

In an article on espn.com on Tuesday, espn.com recruiting coordinators Craig Haubert and Billy Tucker said that Rome and fellow White team tight end Ben Koyack “have posed a matchup problem for safeties and outside linebackers in coverage all week with their great size, range and soft hands. During the game they will be going up against a group of safeties who collectively have the size to jam and run with these top-rated tight ends and the athleticism to matchup in coverage.”

Mitchell is rated the No. 6 wide receiver in the country by ESPN and the No. 5 cornerback in the nation by scout.com. He will play receiver tonight. In 2010, Mitchell caught 77 passes for 1,419 yards and 15 touchdowns for Valdosta. He was a first-team All-State selection and the Region 1-AAAAA Offensive Player of the Year.

Rome and Mitchell will be catching passes from a trio of quarterbacks: Ohio State commitment Braxton Miller (ESPN’s No. 2 quarterback), USC commitment Max Wittek (ESPN’s No. 9 quarterback) and Oklahoma commitment Kendal Thompson (ESPN’s No. 17 quarterback).

The White team is being coached by former Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints head coach (and Hall of Fame tight end) Mike Ditka. Steve Mariucci, who coached the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions, will coach the Red team.

The state of Georgia will be well represented in the game. Five of the other players who will be competing with Rome and Mitchell on the White team are Troup’s Quan Bray (ESPN’s No. 2 athlete), Mitchell County’s Justin Scott-Wesley (a Georgia commitment who is                    ESPN’s No. 17 receiver), Griffin’s Xzavier Dickson (the No. 5 defensive end), Tucker’s James Vaughters (the No. 2 inside linebacker, who is headed to Stanford) and Gainesville’s A.J. Johnson (the No. 6 outside linebacker, who has committed to Tennessee).

Columbus Carver’s Isaiah Crowell (ESPN’s No. 1 running back), Carver’s Gabe Wright (the No. 6 defensive tackle) and Pope’s Thomas O’Reilly (the No. 9 offensive guard, who is committed to Auburn) are three players from the Peach State who will be playing on the Red team.

A number of current college football players played in previous Under Armour All-American Games, including Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green, Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones and Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley. Greg Reid, a former Lowndes High star who now plays cornerback and returns kicks for Florida State, was one of the Most Valuable Players in the 2009 Under Armour All-American Game.