North All-Stars Isaac Tapelu from Kimball of Tracy and Samson Hunkin from St. Mary’s of Stockton stand tall after the game with South All-Star Troy Leota from Central Catholic of Modesto. Photo: Mark Tennis.
The 48th annual Lions All-Star Football Game played Saturday night in Tracy was what everyone who is part of any all-star high school event craves the most and that’s a close game decided in the closing seconds. The South won with four seconds left over the North and has now won five of the last six contests in a series that often goes down to the wire.
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Note: Thanks to Arion Armeniakos of the Tracy Press for doing offensive stats in the press box during the game.
After surrendering a 12-0 lead in the fourth quarter, the South team won the annual Central California Lions All-Star Football Game on Saturday night at Tracy High’s Wayne Schneider Stadium, 18-15, over the North on a scrambling touchdown pass with four seconds left by Los Banos’ David Herrera to Modesto Central Catholic’s Trace Hernandez.
Facing a 15-12 deficit, the South needed an earlier scramble play by Herrera and a first-down run by Aidan Muhammad (Modesto Enochs) to even give the team a chance for the game-winner from the 19-yard line. Herrera, who bounced back from throwing two earlier interceptions, threw across his body to a wide-open Hernandez, who made the catch near the back of the end zone.
MVP Aiden Muhammad rushed for two TDs and rushed for a key first down at the end of the game. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Samson Hunkin (Stockton St. Mary’s) was spectacular for the North. He was under constant pressure and did take a few sacks, but dipped and dashed to daylight on other plays and found open receivers for big yardage. Hunkin had one touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to Trayaaron Davis (Stockton McNair) and another with 1:40 left to Adam Taylor (Stockton St. Mary’s).
While the North team had a two-point conversion after its first score, it missed a PAT on the second. The three-point score might normally invite thoughts of a tie score and then overtime, but in most all-star games and this one it would just go down as a tie. The South still had two timeouts left and was in business after the ensuing kickoff was returned to midfield.
“We should have scored more earlier in the game, but I knew we had a good chance at the end,” said South co-head coach Roger Canepa (Modesto Central Catholic), who was helped in co-coaching this year’s team by Hughson’s Shaun King. “The is one of the best all-star games I’ve seen.”
Canepa, who became the winningest head coach last season in CIF Sac-Joaquin Section history and has won four CIF state championships during his long career at Central Catholic, hopes his coaching this year and the exciting finish keeps the all-star game going.
“I hope it does,” he said. “I commend all the people, that group of 10 or so, who work hard at it. I’m glad I could give back this year and this was a good group of kids we had and I’m glad we could make it back-to-back.”
The South team captured last year’s game by a more lopsided margin, 38-13, which was the first game in the series after a COVID-caused break of three years. In the previous game before COVID in 2019, the North won, 19-18, and there was a tie in 2014. Despite the South now having wins in five of the last six games, the North still leads in the series, 26-19-2.
North head coach Alex Mechikoff of Linden directed a more spirited group this year and didn’t have nearly as many drops from the roster on the Sunday night/Monday time span that hit the North team last season. There were moments in the second half in which the South looked like it might go ahead by more than two scores, but the North team finally broke through on the first of Hunkin’s TD passes and then got a chance to go ahead in the game’s final minutes after an interception by Adam Taylor (Stockton St. Mary’s).
Hunkin, who was named the game’s Offensive MVP, finished 18 of 32 passes for 249 yards and two TDs. He only rushed for five yards on 12 carries, but had several runs of big yardage that put him in the positive combined with the sack yardage he suffered.
“The coaches did a great job bringing us together,” said Hunkin, who will play next at Sierra College in Rocklin. “From a life experience, it was great overall. We didn’t get the result at the end, but still we gained a great bond with each other.”
There was discussion that Merced’s Jalonn Booth should have been MVP and not just Defensive MVP at the 48th annual Lions All-Star Game. Photo: Mark Tennis.
The player who caused Hunkin to run around the most and caused difficulty for the North offense all night was Merced’s Jalonn Booth. Named as the game’s Defensive MVP, he started making tackles on the opening kickoff and led everyone in the game with nine tackles. He also had five sacks, most of them in second half. It could be a record including the previous 47 all-star games, but those records aren’t kept.
“It’s all a mentality thing when you’re trying to get in there,” Booth said of his sacks. “If you can get past that first blocker and make some moves, good things happen.”
The player voted as the MVP was running back Muhammad. He broke loose for a 35-yard touchdown run for the only score in the first half and then he scored on a three-yard run in the third quarter. He also had that huge first down pickup at the end. Muhammad wound up with 13 carries for 77 yards.
“Honestly, going into the week, I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was built-up quickly for us to become a family,” Muhammad said. “We had all the confidence we could win that game at the end.”
Hernandez, who caught the game-winning TD pass, had six catches for 106 yards throughout the game. He also had three carries for 10 yards. Herrera ended 10 of 17 passing for 133 yards and rushed for 12 yards on four carries.
Davis led the North receivers with eight catches for 75 yards and the one TD. Jamin Miller (Escalon) also had a good night with seven catches for 68 yards.
South Defensive Leaders
Jalonn Booth (Merced) 9 tackles, 5 sacks
David Delgado (Hughson) 5 tackles
Antonio Vizcaino (Downey, Modesto) 5 tackles
Seth Van Dyke (Central Catholic) 5 tackles (all first half)
Glen Weber (Oakdale) 1 sack, 1 pressure, 2 tackles
North Defensive Leaders
Bodie Ray Lychak (Kimball) 1 int, 1 deflection, 4 tackles
Adam Taylor (St. Mary’s) 1 int, 2 tackles
Maxwell Laird (Tracy) 4 tackles, stopped 2 pt conv
Nehemiah Williams (Mountain House) 4 tackles
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