Joey Stout from Pitman of Turlock and Roland Brown of Modesto Central Catholic were MVP and Defensive MVP for the 2023 Lions All-Star Game played on June 24 in Tracy. Photo: Mark Tennis.
We will again be assisting the high school football all-star game in the Stockton-Modesto area as a way of giving back to the high school sports in the community we live in. We do this through media relations and providing input to the game’s committee. Rosters for both the north and south teams are out and in two weeks there will be a banquet at the Italian Athletic Club in Stockton honoring the players and teams. Info on the game, banquet, rosters and coaches is below.
LIONS ALL-STAR FOOTBALL GAME 2024
ROSTERS RELEASED FOR SATURDAY, JUNE 22
AT TRACY HIGH’S WAYNE SCHNEIDER STADIUM
ALL-STAR BANQUET SATURDAY, APRIL 13
AT ITALIAN ATHLETIC CLUB (STOCKTON)
WITH SPECIAL GUEST KEVIN JOHN OF ABC 10 SPORTS
*Note: Player pictures for banquet 5 pm; dinner 6 pm.
Cash and checks only for banquet $40. Raffle of footballs signed by players. Presale game tickets for $10 ($15 at the game itself).
*Go to our website lionsallstarfootball.com for additional background information.
Coaches and players have been selected and all will be honored in two weeks at a banquet as activities are heating up surrounding the 48th Central California Lions All-Star Football Game, which will be played on Saturday, June 22, beginning at 7 pm at Tracy High School’s Wayne Schneider Stadium.
The event, which matches top graduated high school football players primarily from the Stockton area against those primarily from the Modesto area, was held last summer after a three-year hiatus due to COVID. The game was played prior to that in June of 2019 at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on the campus of Lincoln High in Stockton. It had been played in Tracy for the six years prior to that from 2013 to 2018. The Lions All-Star Football Classic began in 1974 and was held at the University of Pacific’s Memorial Stadium until 2011.
Central Catholic head coach Roger Canepa hoists fourth consecutive CIF state title. Photo: Paul Muyskens.
The head coaches for this year’s game will be Alexander Metchikoff of Linden for the North and the duo of Roger Canepa from Central Catholic of Modesto and Shaun King of Hughson for the South. This is the second straight year that the South team has had co-coaches after Trent Merzon of Oakdale and Tim Garcia from Grace Davis of Modesto for last season.
The South team was victorious in last year’s game, 38-13, behind MVP Joey Stout from Pitman of Turlock. It marked the fourth time in the last five games that the South has won, but the North still leads in the series, 26-18-2.
Canepa gained a major milestone last season when he became the winningest head coach in the history of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section. He won the 283rd game of his career, which began in 1990 at Sonora, continued from 1996 to 2007 at Calaveras (San Andreas) and has reached legendary status at Central Catholic since then. His teams at Central Catholic also won four straight CIF state titles in small school divisions from 2012 to 2015, which is tied for the state record with the one and only Bob Ladoucuer from Concord De La Salle and Dwight “Goldie” Griffith of Bakersfield High from the 1920s.
King has been the head coach at Hughson since 2018. He was the Modesto Bee Coach of the Year for the 2022 season when the Huskies won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D6 title as well as the CIF D5-AA state title. They repeated that section crown last season, but lost in the NorCal D4-A regional championship to Palma of Salinas.
Mechikoff just completed his first season at Linden, but quickly gained a reputation as a top, up-and-coming young coach by how well the Lions did competing as a small school against much larger schools in the San Joaquin Athletic Association. Linden went 9-3 last fall and 6-1 in the SJAA with its only league loss to an Edison (Stockton) squad that is D1 and large school by any metric one could devise.
Banquet Guest Speaker: Kevin John (ABC 10 Sports)
It wasn’t possible for there to be a banquet for last year’s first all-star game after COVID, but it’s back on and will be held this year on Saturday, April 13 at the Italian Athletic Club in Stockton.
The Lions All-Star Football Committee is humbled and excited that ABC 10 Sports director Kevin John will be there to speak to this year’s all-star players and coaches.
Kevin is a graduate of Bear Creek High in Stockton. He has been at the Sacramento ABC affiliate since October of 2018 after he moved up from a smaller media market in East Texas. Kevin played sports at Bear Creek and eventually had dreams of becoming an actor in Southern California. He has been in commercials and films, but after hosting a sports show turned all that energy he has into being a TV sports on-air talent.
Game Ticket Info
This year’s game will feature for the first time tickets that can be purchased through GoFan.com. Tickets are $15. We are asking for cash only for tickets at the game site on game day and for additional items such as t-shirts, concessions and game programs.
Here is the link to get tickets on GoFan:
https: https://gofan.co/event/1477328?schoolId=CA87815
North Team (Alphabetical roster)
WR/DB Bryan Anaya (Edison, Stockton)
DB Anthony Billbery (Edison, Stockton)
RB Asante Carter (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
OL Giovanni Chavez (Escalon)
WR Elijah Chrim (Lincoln, Stockton)
RB Xzavier Clark (Ripon)
RB/LB Tony Cowan (Linden)
DB Barrett Crosby (Tokay, Lodi)
WR/DB Troyaaron Davis (McNair, Stockton)
WR Darius Doyle (Kimball, Tracy)
LB Jac Easthouse (Kimball, Tracy)
DB Daniel Emojevbe (Lincoln, Stockton)
LB Jason Evans (Tokay, Lodi)
LB Jesus Gonzalez III (Linden)
OL Melino Halaholo (Lincoln, Stockton)
DL Javonnie Haymon (Edison, Stockton)
QB/RB Samson Hunkin (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
OL Xavier Johnson (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
C C.J. King (Manteca)
LB Maxwell Laird (Tracy)
DB Samear Lattier (Tracy)
DL Jaxon Ludwig (Sonora)
DB Bodie Rey Lychak (Kimball, Tracy)
LB Jamin Miller (Escalon)
LB Tommy Perea (Manteca)
WR Jay Reames (Linden)
LB Junior Saavedra (Kimball, Tracy)
OL Thomas Serrano (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
QB Matthew Shinn (Lodi)
OL Jeremiah Singleton (Stagg, Stockton)
OL/DL Isaac Tepelu (Kimball, Tracy)
DB Adam Taylor (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
QB Aidan Van Os (Tracy)
DE Nehemiah Williams (Mountain House)
OL/DL Jordan Wynne (Summerville, Tuolumne)
OL/DL Reece Wynne (Summerville, Tuolumne)
South Team (Alphabetical Roster)
WR Adam Aguilar (Los Banos)
WR Jeremiah Bernard (Modesto Christian)
LB Jalonn Booth (Merced)
DE Jackson Brooks (Grace Davis, Modesto)
LB David Burns (Hughson)
LB Chase Caetano (Buhach Colony, Atwater)
OL Alex Cardenas (Hilmar)
DL Jacob Coronado (Golden Valley, Merced)
WR/DB David Delgado (Hughson)
LB Reyes Diaz (LeGrand)
RB Juan Esquivez (Orestimba, Newman)
OL Trytin Gastelum (Golden Valley, Merced)
LB Hunter Goudeau (Central Catholic, Modesto)
OL Kristian Guerrero (Turlock)
WR/DB Trace Hernandez (Central Catholic, Modesto)
QB David Herrera (Los Banos)
DE Jack Hinchey (Downey, Modesto)
DE Derrick Kirkendall (Downey, Modesto)
OL Troy Leota (Central Catholic, Modesto)
OL/DL Nathaniel Lozano (Patterson)
RB Michael Marsden (Gregori, Modesto)
WR/DB Larkin Meyer (Hughson)
LB Owen Miller (Turlock)
RB Aiden Muhammad (Enochs, Modesto)
OL/DL Anthony Nixon (Merced)
DB/WR Marley Okoro (Enochs, Modesto)
QB/DB Izrael Sanchez (Grace Davis, Modesto)
RB Chase Smith (Merced)
OL Daniel Valencia (Grace Davis, Modesto)
TE/LB Seth Van Dyke (Central Catholic, Modesto)
DT Samuel Vasquez (Johansen, Modesto)
DB Antonio Vizcaino (Downey, Modesto)
DB Trey Webb (Gregori, Modesto)
OL Glen Weber (Oakdale)
WR/DB Jonah White (Golden Valley, Merced)
MVP Awards Are Named In Honor
Of Lions Game Three Founders
Starting at the conclusion of last year’s game and continuing for this year, the MVP will be honored with the Wayne Schneider MVP Award. The Defensive MVP will be honored with the Bob Mattos Defensive MVP Award while the Offensive MVP will be honored with the Les Ratzlaff Offensive MVP Award. Schneider (former Tracy High head coach), the late Mattos (formerly of Stockton Stagg) and the late Ratzlaff (formerly of Turlock) were the three coaches who primarily worked to start the Lions All-Star Game in 1974.
High Schools Represented In
District 4A-1 of Lions International
North – Amador (Sutter Creek), Argonaut (Jackson), Bear Creek (Stockton), Bret Harte (Altaville), Brookside Christian (Stockton), Calaveras (San Andreas), East Union (Manteca), Edison (Stockton), Escalon, Franklin (Stockton), Jim Elliot Christian (Lodi), Kimball (Tracy), Lathrop, Lincoln (Stockton), Lodi, Manteca, McNair (Stockton), Merrill West (Tracy), Millennium (Tracy), Mountain House, Ripon, Ripon Christian, St. Mary’s (Stockton), Sierra (Manteca), Sonora, Stagg (Stockton), Summerville (Tuolomne), Tokay (Lodi), Tracy, Weston Ranch (Stockton).
South – Atwater, Beyer (Modesto), Big Valley Christian (Modesto), Buhach Colony (Atwater), Central Catholic (Modesto), Central Valley (Ceres), Ceres, Chowchilla, Delhi, Denair, Dos Palos, Downey (Modesto), El Capitan (Merced), Enochs (Modesto), Golden Valley (Merced), Grace Davis (Modesto), Gregori (Modesto), Gustine, Hilmar, Hughson, Johansen (Modesto), Le Grand, Livingston, Los Banos, Madera, Madera South, Mariposa County (Mariposa), Merced, Modesto, Modesto Christian, Oakdale, Orestimba (Newman), Pacheco (Los Banos), Patterson, Pitman (Turlock), Riverbank, Stone Ridge Christian (Merced), Turlock, Turlock Christian.
