Photograph by George Sakkestad
Los Gatos receiver Neno Manuel struggles for yardage after hauling in a pass for the North.
By Dick Sparrer
In an all-star game, it's the honor of being selected and competing that's most important. Winning is secondary.
Yeah, well, the South team wasn't buying that theory when it came time for the playing of the 22nd annual Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game last Friday night at San José City College.
The North rode a five-game winning streak into the 1996 all-star game, and had outscored the South 89-15 over the last three years. Those facts were not lost on the members of the South squad.
"In practice, we talked about it," Willow Glen's Bryan Navarrette said of the North's recent domination of the game. "We wanted to end the streak."
And end it they did. The Southerners dominated the football over the final three periods on the road to a streak-ending 28-14 victory over the North.
Of course, there's also something to the honor of being selected to an all-star team and playing in an all-star game.
"It feels real good," Navarrette said of the experience. "It feels good to play, and it feels better to win."
And while there was a certain thrill in victory, there was also an agony in defeat, despite the fact it was an all-star game.
"In practice, we were awesome," Joel Reikes of Saratoga said after the loss. "But we came out here flat tonight. We weren't playing up to our potential."
Five turnovers were proof of that. The North could not mount an offensive threat after the first period, and the South took advantage of the opportunity to fight back from a 7-0 deficit for the victory.
The North ran just one offensive play in the second period, and lost the ball on a fumble. The Northerners ran just six plays in the third quarter, then fumbled the ball away on the first play of the fourth.
Still, the North trailed just 21-14 and had control of the football with just over three minutes left to play. But the South's Jeff Hewitt (Live Oak) picked off a North pass, and Jason Sinatra (Silver Creek) scored from 31 yards out a couple of plays later to clinch the victory.
But despite the outcome, players on both sides were thankful for the experience of playing shoulder-to-shoulder with the best players in the area.
"It was pretty fun," Scott Grover (Los Gatos) said. "I got to meet a lot of different people and make some new friends."
Navarrette agreed.
"It was a good experience," he said. "I was glad I could be a part of this team."
And he was glad to play for the team that won the game, and won in dominating fashion--statistically, if not on the scoreboard.
The South ran up 297 yards of total offense to just 57 for the North, and held the Yankees to a minus-two yards in the second period.
The Northerners took the early lead when a short South punt gave them great field position at the enemy 19 with 4:58 left in the first.
Miguel Valdillez (Mitty) capped a short three-play drive when he blasted over from the 3-yard-line with 2:55 remaining in the period.
The South battled right back, moving 81 yards in 10 plays to tie the game. Quarterback Tony Tognetti (Gilroy) snuck over the from the one, and Julio Jana (Lick) kicked the extra point to give the South the lead.
They didn't hold the lead for long, though. Errol Johnson (Palo Alto) hauled in the South kickoff at the two and raced 98 yards for a touchdown. Valdillez ran in for the two-point conversion, and that quickly the North had moved back in front 14-7.
The South came stomping right back down the field for another first half touchdown. The Rebels went 75 yards on 11 plays, eating 7:31 off the game block, before Sinatra ended the drive with a 31-yard touchdown run. The attempted extra point kick sailed wide, and the South led 14-13.
Sean MacNiven (Silver Creek) recovered a successful onsides kick, and the South was in business again. Tognetti hit Matt Chmelka (Valley Christian) for 27 yards and a score with just 37.8 seconds left in the half. A crushing block by Myron Washington (Mt. Pleasant) helped Chmelka get into the endzone.
Tognetti fired a strike to James Chapman (Leland) for the two-point conversion, and the South led 21-14 at the break.
That's how it remained until midway through the third when Hewitt picked off the pass and Sinatra went 31 yards for the final touchdown. Jana's kick made the final score 28-14.
Turnovers kept the North from mounting any sort of threat the rest of the way.
Sinatra was the offensive star of the night, racing for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. He also hauled in four passes for 54 yards. Chuks Amajor (Oak Grove) and Damien Brown (Del Mar) ran for 15 yards apiece in the win.
Tognetti hooked up on six-of-eight passes for 98 yards and the one touchdown. Blake Elliott (Bellarmine) completed six-of-eight tosses for 55 yards and Kenny Sanchez (Silver Creek) had one 28-yard completion.
North quarterbacks Tony Med-aglia (Mitty) and Dan Sullivan (Lynbrook) completed two passes each in the game. Johnson hauled in two of the tosses and Neno Manuel (Los Gatos) and Scott Whiteford (Leigh) each had a catch.
Mike Wayne (Saratoga) had just three carries for 11 yards to figure as the rushing leader for the North. Tim Garner (Leigh) carried once for three yards.
Jeremie Braun (Homestead), Gabe Calebotta (Saratoga) and Mike Whitcanack (Saratoga) each worked in the offensive line for the North.
Linebacker Joe Yuan (Saratoga) was the tackling leader for the North, getting in on eight tackles. He had a quarterback sack among his eight stops.
Tom Jimenez (Fremont) was another defensive leader with seven tackles and Darren Svedeman (St. Francis) had a sack among his five tackles and also recovered a fumble.
Leo Fisher (Homestead) had three tackles and was in on a sack and Pat Guthrie (Leigh) had four tackles. Ryan McCracken (Mountain View) finished with three sacks and Kris Spraker (St. Francis), T.J. Romano (Mitty), Aaron Nelson (Palo Alto), and Jacob De La Cerda (Wilcox) were also among the tackling leaders.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, July 31, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved