'The whole game was exciting': North beats South in Lions All-Star slugfest
Tony Franks of St. Mary's and his staff guided the North to a 42-37 win over the South in the 49th annual Lions All-Star Football Game at Wayne Schneider Stadium in Tracy, and Franks summed it up simply afterward: "The whole game was exciting."
The win pushed the North's all-time edge in the series to 27-19-2. After holding a 28-17 lead entering the fourth quarter, the North had to survive a wild final period that featured five combined touchdowns and repeated momentum swings before finally securing possession on the last kickoff and running out the clock.
Zakery Willson, who was named the game MVP, keyed the North's offense with a huge final quarter, including a 48-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Harrison of Edison. Cody Ferrante of Calaveras later added a 14-yard touchdown run, while earlier in the game Isaac Sagapolu of Edison caught scoring strikes of 63 yards and 8 yards. Sagapolu earned the game's Offensive MVP honor, and Ruben Moreno of Tracy was named the North's Most Inspirational Player.
The South, coached by Jeremy Plaa of Downey, kept answering. Adarias Morales-Saetern of Merced opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run, Noah Cozart of Patterson took a 54-yard halfback option pass for another score, and Dominic Gonzalez of Golden Valley later found Joseph Delte of Turlock on a 47-yard touchdown pass that cut the margin to five with under four minutes left. Kacob Wallace of Downey converted the extra points that kept the pressure on until the final seconds.
The game was high-scoring from the outset. Willson gave the North an early lead on a 13-yard run, the South answered on a 1-yard rush by Johan Chaney of Davis, and the North kept striking through the Ferrante-to-Sagapolu connection plus a later 35-yard touchdown pass from Willson to Terrence Hampton of Lincoln. Elijah Gutierrez of Tracy handled the North extra points throughout the night.
Franks said the week felt like a welcome return to Friday night football for his staff, while Plaa said he would have loved one more offensive chance late. Even so, both coaches were praised by Franks for how well the two staffs prepared their teams in only five days of practice, helping produce another dramatic Lions finish in Tracy.