Washington receiver Flynn Heald was named to the All-Madden Team this summer, but it wasn't some Xbox competition with his high school buddies.

This was the real deal.

Heald made the prestigious All-Madden Team at the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where 130 of the top high school players in the country gathered in late July to test their skills and learn more about the game.

Twenty-eight players were selected for the All-Madden Team, based on performance, and Heald was one of only three wide receivers named to the squad. The All-Madden Team is named for John Madden, the former NFL head coach and broadcaster.

Chris Weinke, a former Heisman Trophy quarterback at Florida State, is the director of the IMG Madden Football Academy. Former NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde, former University of Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey and former NFL receiver Mark Carrier were among the instructors.

Heald learned one important lesson in Florida: He has to keep working hard, because at 6-foot and 185 pounds, his size alone is not going to open any doors.

"Out-working someone is the best way to go, because you have to find somebody in front of you and just keep working your way up the ladder," he said Monday after practice. "I think that's kind of my motto and kind of what I live by."

There's nobody in front of Heald at Washington High School. He caught nine passes for a school-record 244 yards and two touchdowns last Friday in a 51-26 victory over Prairie and ranks among the top pass-catchers in the state.

Heald plans to play football in college and knows he'll have to climb the ladder when he gets to the next level. He's been invited to attend a game at Indiana University and received a personal tour of the Kansas University campus from KU assistant coach Chuck Long when he attended a camp in Lawrence.

Heald also attended football camps at the University of Minnesota, Western Michigan and Illinois State this summer.

Washington Coach Tony Lombardi thinks Heald will find a place to play in college, but he's not sure whether it will be the Big Ten, Big 12 or somewhere else.

"You never know what they're looking for in staff meetings, but I can tell you this: I think he can play at any level, if given the opportunity," Lombardi said Monday.

"He runs unbelievably disciplined routes and he has an extremely high football IQ, so he gets himself open. And then he has great feet. He can really change direction, so he's very good running with the ball after the catch."

Washington quarterback Braedon Tovey threw darts to Heald all night against Prairie, and Heald turned upfield once he had the ball in his hands. His 244 receiving yards broke the school record of 219 set by Keenan Davis, now a starter at the University of Iowa.

Heald gained more yards in one game than he did all of last year, but there's a reason for that. The Warriors relied heavily on tailback Alex Carr and their running game last season, but Carr has graduated and Lombardi has opened the attack.

Heald caught 19 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns last season, which made him the leading receiver on the club. That's an average of about two catches per game.

What did he do the rest of the time? "He blocked," Lombardi said with a laugh.

"I felt badly for him on an individual basis, but I felt like our best bet to win games last year was the way we tried," he said.

Heald had no major complaints.

"I knew that Alex Carr was one of those guys that we had to rely on," he said. "We found a rhythm for our team and we followed it throughout the season."

Heald acknowledged it was "a little frustrating," but said he respected Lombardi's decision to stick with the running game. The Warriors passed for only 604 yards during the regular season last year in nine games.

"Coach Lombardi has been around the game a lot longer than I have," he said. "He obviously knows what solutions are going to win us the game.

"I'm glad that I'm getting my chance this year finally," he added.

Heald said he was clocked in 4.66 seconds for the 40-yard dash at the KU camp. He's also been clocked in 4.61 seconds, but said he's not sure if that was legitimate or not.

Running a 4.66 in the 40 is good speed, but it's not great speed for a college receiver.

"There are guys that look like him and have his skill set that play at the highest level of football, but it's not commonplace," Lombardi said. "So we have to get lucky enough that somebody sees him and likes him and feels like he meets their needs."

Heald rarely left the field against Prairie last Friday. He returned two kickoffs for 69 yards, returned two punts for 17 yards, played defensive back and intercepted a pass.

He accounted for 330 all-purpose yards in the ballgame and stamped himself as a player to watch this season.

Washington plays Jefferson at Kingston Stadium Friday night, looking for a 2-0 start to the season. Heald thinks the Warriors could be headed for another good year.

"I'm excited," he said. "I'm really excited to see where we go."