The 49th annual Lions All-Star Football Game will be held on June 21 at Tracy High’s Wayne Schneider Stadium. It’s our local game where we live and work and we support it with media relations and getting the word out about all related events and updates. Here’s a look at this year’s rosters, coaches and why this game has been one of the best of its kind in the state for the last three years.
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Head coaches Tony Franks from St. Mary’s of Stockton and Jeremy Plaa from Downey of Modesto will be introducing some of their players on Saturday night at the Italian Athletic Club in Stockton as activities are ramping up for the 49th Central California Lions All-Star Football Game.
This year’s game will be played on Saturday, June 21, beginning at 7 pm at Tracy High School’s Wayne Schneider Stadium.
Franks, one of the winningest coaches in CIF Sac-Joaquin Section history, will be the head coach of the North team this year. Plaa, who directed Downey to one of its best final state ranking finishes in school history, will be the head coach of the South squad.
The event, which matches top graduated high school football players primarily from the Stockton area against those primarily from the Modesto area, is going into its third year after it was not held for three years due to the COVID pandemic. It has been played at Lincoln High in Stockton (2019), Tracy (2013-2018 & 2023-24), Modesto Junior College (2012) and at University of the Pacific’s Memorial Stadium.
The South team was victorious in last year’s game, 18-15, on a touchdown pass with four seconds left by David Herrera (Los Banos) to Trace Hernandez (Modesto Central Catholic). The North team had rallied from a 12-0 deficit entering the fourth quarter to take a 15-12 lead. It was the second last-second win by the South in three years and also made it five wins in the last six games for the South. The North team, however, still leads in the series, 26-19-2.
Franks ranks seventh on the SJS all-time coaching wins list with a mark of 234-80-2 at St. Mary’s from 1984 to 1986 and from 2002 through last season. The Rams had another stellar team last season that won their 17th straight league title and went to the loaded SJS D2 semifinals where they lost 28-21 to eventual CIF D2-AA state champ Grant (Sacramento). St. Mary’s is currently tied for fourth on the all-time state list for consecutive league titles but with two more would move all alone into second-place at 19 with only De La Salle of Concord (won 27th straight league title last season) higher.
Plaa’s team at Downey won an SJS D1 playoff game over Edison (Stockton) and then lost to eventual champ Folsom in the quarterfinals, 68-28. The 28 points that the Knights scored in that game was tied for the most that were scored against the powerhouse Bulldogs all season. Plaa has gone 132-62 in 18 seasons at Downey and before that was head coach for three years at Gustine and for two years at Delhi. Plaa was head coach of the South in 2003 after a 12-1 season at Gustine and also was head coach of the South in 2015 after a successful season at Downey. His son, Braden, was recently named head coach at Pitman of Turlock so there will be a father-son coaching matchup coming up next fall.
Banquet Guest Speaker: Gary Hyman (Delta College)
The Lions All-Star Football Committee is humbled and honored that Delta College of Stockton assistant head coach Gary Hyman will be there to speak to this year’s all-star players and coaches.
Hyman works with head coach Gary Barlow (who also has been a guest speaker at this banquet) and is currently in his second stint on the Delta College staff. He was part-time from 2001 to 2008 and served in various roles. He then went to USC in 2009 to be a strength & conditioning coach. Gary then had coaching roles at several other college programs, including University of Texas-El Paso, South Dakota School of the Mines, Texas A&M, Kansas, Indiana State and Northern Arizona. He also is an adjunct associate professor back at Delta College in PE while also coaching football.
Game Ticket Info
This year’s game will feature tickets that can be purchased through GoFan.com. Tickets are $15. Presale game tickets and t-shirts also will be available at the banquet.
North Team (Alphabetical roster)
Fahad Akhlaq (Tokay, Lodi)
Adrian Bankston (Bear Creek, Stockton)
Julian Benton (Stagg, Stockton)
Derek Bogetti (Tracy)
Braden Busalacchi (Linden)
Armani Byrne (Stagg, Stockton)
Loyal Easter (Chavez, Stockton)
Cody Ferrante (Calaveras, San Andreas)
Elijah Gutierrez (Tracy)
Ahymri Hall (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
Terrence Hampton (Lincoln, Stockton)
Marcus Harrison (Edison, Stockton)
Juju Jackson (McNair, Stockton)
Cassius Livers (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
Alius Mayo (Lincoln, Stockton)
Jaylon Mays (Lincoln, Stockton)
Angelo Melendez (McNair, Stockton)
Seth Mitchell (Argonaut, Jackson)
Ruben Moreno (Manteca)
Nicholas Motuliki (Edison, Stockton)
Jermaine Nance (Kimball, Tracy)
Joshua Novoa (McNair, Stockton)
Isaak Quinene (Chavez, Stockton)
Jaylin Rodgers (Kimball, Stockton)
Isaac Sagapolu (Edison, Stockton)
Lance Schaede (Linden)
Matthew Schallberger (Linden)
Tomasi Sovatabua (Manteca)
Treavon Spivey (Chavez, Stockton)
Sean-Kingston Teu (Lathrop)
Lucky Tupouata (Tracy)
Tali Vaipuna (Sierra, Manteca)
Alijah Walker (Weston Ranch, Stockton)
Will Weathington (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
Isaiah White (Manteca)
Zakery Willson (Sierra, Manteca)
Hilmar QB Caden Bailey is shown during his sophomore season. Photo: AnnaMarie Silveira / FrontRowPreps.com.
South Team (Alphabetical Roster)
Xzavier Ahumada Gregori, Modesto)
Caden Bailey (Hilmar)
Sebastian Campos (Central Catholic, Modesto)
Johan Chaney (Grace Davis, Modesto)
Noah Cozart (Patterson)
Nicolas Cuevas (Orestimba, Newman)
Jeremiah Dela Rosa (Atwater)
Zion Denning (Central Catholic, Modesto)
Roberto Dominguez (Atwater)
Quintell DuPree (Merced)
Jesse Edmonson (Central Catholic, Modesto)
Yahir Flores (Delhi)
Dylan Fontes (Turlock)
Dejuan Franklin (El Capitan, Merced)
Scotty Hallmon (Central Catholic, Modesto)
Travis Harkrader (Hughson)
Julian Higareda (Merced)
Daley Holmes (Downey, Modesto)
Carson Lamb (Downey, Modesto)
Jatavious Lewis (Merced)
Ismael Lopez (Downey, Modesto)
Carson Lund (Stone Ridge Chr, Merced)
Dylan McCauley (Orestimba, Newman)
Aiden Millan (Atwater)
Ryne Moore (Downey, Modesto)
Adarias Morales-Saetern (Merced)
Richard Jr Nuku (Johansen, Modesto)
Time Sitala Jr. (Turlock)
Tyler Stroup (Oakdale)
Malakai Sumter (Hughson)
Melea (Mj) Uili (Modesto)
Seneca Ybarra (Atwater)
Yahir Zuniga (Los Banos)
Note: There were 36 selected for the North with the expectation that at least three players are going to drop.
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