Information on the 31st Annual 2008 Lions All-Star Football Game will be posted very soon.

The South looks to have a stacked team for the 2007 game with both Paradise and Gridley in the section games and having loads of seniors. On paper - the South looks Big, Fast, and Talented.

The 30th Annual Lions All-Star Football Game

Saturday, July 28th, 2007

Shasta College
11555 Old Oregon Trail
Redding, CA
(map)

Kick-off 7:30pm

North Coach: Mt. Shasta High School's Head Coach Joe Blevins

South Coach: Lindhurst High School's Head Coach Mike Mason (a graduate of Shasta High School)

This is a District 4C-1 Game!
All Clubs need to sponsor a player from their local area High School.
Call Lion Coy Moody (530-275-3417) for sponsorships!

2007 Team Rosters

4-C1 Chair

Dwaine Melton
Redding Host Lions
dcm@norcalsatellite.com

GAME HISTORY

By Dr. Maxwell Lee, P.D.G., member of Sunset Lions Club, life member, Chico Breakfast Lions Club and Bob Pentzer, Chico Breakfast Lions Club, Public Relations Chairman, Lions District 4C-1.

The annual Lions All-Star football game has matured over a decade from an idea of humble origin and uncertain future to an activity of unqualified success. It’s been fun-raising and fund-raising at its very best.

Initiated in 1977-78 with Dr. Max Lee as game director and the Chico Breakfast Lions Club as his support group, the collision of Northeastern California’s finest prep football talent has been displayed at University Stadium, Harrison Stadium in Oroville, Shasta College and Thompson Field in Redding. Wherever it has gone, the real winners are never cited on the scoreboard. They have been the sight conservation programs, City of Hope cancer research, Medic Alert, drug abuse prevention and other philanthropic endeavors in the Lions crusade of community service.

Game Recaps

1978

A good foot and a good arm finished dead even in the inaugural as the North, led by the passing of Corning’s Nash Crisosto, and South, riding the fortunes of field goal kicker Hector Franco of Colus, knotted at 15-15.  Crisosto had 12 completions in 19 attempts for 184 yards and one touchdown. Corning teammate Steve Fitzgerald caught six of these tosses including an 18-yard touchdown pass late in the game to cut the deficit for North to 15-13. Crisostos scampered in for the tying two-point conversion. Franco booted field goals of 43, 29 and 27 yards. Warren Benamati of Willows led North rushers with 89 yards on 14 carries while Larry Abinante of Yuba City paced the South with 101 yards on 22 tries. George Calkins of Yuba City High School coached the South and Bob Reid of Anderson headed planning for the North.

1979

The South claimed the first series victory in a see-saw affair. The North gained a first quarter lead on Corning’s Kirk Jennings’ one-yard run. The South countered the nine second quarter points. After intermission, Jennings put the North back on top with a touchdown, but the South picked up six more on a short scoring run by Lindhurst’s Larry Guanzon that made the final: South 16, North 13.

1980

The South stretched its dominance to two wins and a tie with a convincing 21-6 passing of the North. Key to the southlander’s success was a stingy defense yielding but 175 yards. For the third straight year, the North scored first. A 68-yard march ended fruitfully with Mike Lawrence of Orland taking a Gale Gilbert (Red Bluff) pass for 12 yards and a touchdown only three minutes into the game. The South retaliated with scores by Loyal Miner of Pleasant Valley (Chico) (he scored twice) and Bill George of Biggs (once). Dick Kalbach of Biggs received congratulations as the winning coach, while Joe Blevings of Big Valley was the losing mentor.

1981

The North celebrated its first series win, 7-6, making a first quarter touchdown by Anderson’s David Westlake (on a 17 yard gallop) and Westlake’s conversion kick stand up against the passing onslaught of the South’s Brad Ziel of Paradise. Ziel landed 17 of his 35 passes in friendly hands, but four were snared by the enemy. Ziel hit Dan Stoner (Chico) on a nine-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter, but a Ziel aerial for a two-point win fell incomplete.

1982

A stubborn defense and the passing of Chico’s Steve Schimillen catapulted the South to a 34-7 halftime lead en route to a 48-19 victory over the North. Schmillen was 12 of 26 for 178 passing yards and one touchdown. He also ran in for another six-pointer. A solid defense against the rush forced North quarterback Doug Miller of Enterprise to pass often. He threw 35 times, completing 15 for 260 yards. Five were intercepted. The South coach was John Beck of Chico while Gene Pisenti of Burney coached the North.

1983

Anderson High School’s Tim Moore and Don Trotter keyed this year’s 21-18 North victory. Moore caught nine passes including a seven-yarder from quarterback Trotter with 10 minutes in the game to provide the winning margin. Trotter had scored earlier on a 10-yard run to put the North on top 15-12. Quincy’s Aaron Lee scampered 55 yards for a south score that made it 18-12 for the South. Trotter was 14 of 23 on the passing ledger for the 128 yards. Winning coach was Don Duncan of Etna while the loser was Geoff Wahl of East Nicolaus.

1984

The North’s dominating ground attack amassed 440 yards with Orland’s James Olsen leading the way with 171 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. Pete Clemens, a 6-foot, 200 pounder from Dunsmuir, was inserted in the second half and collected an incredible 157 yards in six carries including 73, 31 and 3-yard scoring runs. The South’s biggest asset was its passing game. Brad Reaget of Chico finished the night with 182 yards in the air by hitting 12 of 20 attempts. Reager hit Bobby O’Neal of Lindhurst with a 24-yard scoring strike in the second quarter for one of the South’s two TD’s. The North dominated that second half by outscoring the South 25-6. It was the North’s awesome running game that accounted for all of its scoring as it did in the first half. The final score was 47-North and 13-South. Winning coach was Bob Hill of Modoc, while the loser was Al Shuler of Chester.

1985

In the explosive offensive display in series history, the South overcame a 32-12 second quarter deficit to outscore the North, 47-38. The North relied heavily on the running of Jim Tomasin of Redding’s Shasta High who had 143 yards in 25 carries. He also caught five passes for 53 yards. Red Bluff’s Flint Glines helped the North cause with a series record 101-yard kickoff return touchdown. Keying a strong half effort that gave the South the victory were quarterback Mike Burelson of Chester High School and fullback Ken White of Chico High School. The South coaching staff was directed by Otto Brackett of Greenville High School. Ed Lombardi of Susanville’s Lassen High School coached the North unit. The South leads the series 4-3. There has been one tie.

1986

The North’s size and speed earned credit for the North’s 25-6 victory. Tulelake’s Paul Idrogo was the workhorse with 129 yards in 25 carries including an eight-yard touchdown dash. Other North six-pointers came from Bob Halderman from Hayfork, Aaron Blakeley of Hayfork and Kyle Gilbreath of Enterprise (Redding). The South’s lone crossing of the end line came on a five-yard pass from Yuba City’s Torben Ulrich to Chico’s Doug Williams. Frank Frye of Hayfork coached the victors while Jim NcNulty of Oroville tutored the South.

1987

The South pushed its series lead to 5-4-1 in a 21-15 come-from-behind victory manufactured by the Yuba City quarterback end combination of Greg Brown and Jim Arnold and the power running of Gridley’s Kord Hepworth (two touchdowns, 93 yards on 19 carries). The North carried a 15-13 lead going into the final quarter. Roger Murry (Yreka) ran in for one score, tallied a two-point conversion scamper and Bruce Farrel (Enterprise of Redding) had an eight-yard T.D. effort. Arnold picked up the deciding six-pointer for the South on a 46-yard pass-run play initiated by Brown early in the fourth period. Don Duncan of Etna was the North coach and Geoff Wahl of East Nicolaus directed the South.

1988

A near-capacity crowd of about 4,000 witnessed the South post a 37-26 win at Shasta College in Redding.  Despite a 15-10 halftime lead for the North, Chico High’s Scott Thompson paced the South in its victory with three touchdown passes and 187 yards in the air. Thompson tossed a 9-yard pass to Tony Camp (Quincy) for one TD and quarterback Chris Phillips (Yuba City) connected with Camp for another, a 34-yard throw. Quarterback David Mann of Hamilton, led the North with two touchdown passes. Dennis Lorenzetti of Mt. Shasta was the North coach; Quincy’s Don Ray commanded the South.

1989

Trailing 7-3 at halftime, the South scored on its first possession of the second half to take a 10-7 lead and never trailed again. The go-ahead touchdown was an 11-yard touchdown pass from Kurt Young of Biggs to Brian Brown of Yuba City. The South defense in the second half was extraordinary, holding the North without a first down until the final minute of the game. Ed Stewart’s 4-yard touchdown run late in the game gave the South an insurmountable 17-7 lead. South Coach Del Kalbach won his second Lions’ game, adding the 1989 title to his 1980 victory. Stewart was the game’s top offensive player with 114 yards on 22 carries.

1990

A crowd of 2,500 in University Stadium at California State University, Chico, watched the versatility of Gridley’s Joe Hughes prove the difference as the South captured its fourth straight win, 26-13. The 6-4, 190 pound Hughes scored on a 98-yard run to open game scoring, but this was countered when North QB Ricky Allen (Enterprise) scampered in from five yards out to post a 7-7 deadlock at intermission. Hughes opened second half heroics with a scoring toss to Chris Shimp of Paradise and later to Sutter’s Ted McEndree.  The South team was supervised by Gridley High Dave Lake while Darryl Baeth of Tulelake made decisions for the North.

1991

The North ended a four-year losing streak with a 27-14 victory in Shasta College’s Memorial Stadium. Shasta High’s (Redding) Keith Fleuret rushed for 130 yards in 14 totes for the North. Helping him were Hamilton City’s Sergio Villasenor hitting on 12 of 22 passes and Orland’s Mark Foster scoring two touchdowns. Scott Johnson of Hamilton was the head man for the North while Dave Driffill of Colusa coached the losers.

1992

A packed Shasta College Stadium watched as Eli Boudreau of Red Bluff quarterbacked the North team to a 25-6 victory. The South lead 6-0 entering the second quarter, but Boudreau took advantage of the South defense and threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to former Red Bluff teammate Mike Hall, which tied the game and kept the South guessing. A 9-yard touchdown pass to Orland’s Aaron Schermer put the North ahead for good. Key defensive players included nose guard John Clinger of Red Bluff, LB Bill Brash of Orland and from Corning, DE Dusty Langston. Outstanding offensive play was led by quarterback Eli Boudreau of Red bluff who went 11-14 for 190 yards and 2 touchdown passes. Outstanding plays also by Brandon Ellena, a tackle from Lassen and wide receiver Jeff Ogden of Anderson. Paul Johnson of Red bluff High coached the North to victory while Geoff Wahl of East Nicolaus High took the loss.

1993

In one of closest and most thrilling games since the 1978 opener of the series, the South team upped its series advantage to 9-6-1 with a 20-18 victory. The North drew first blood with a game-opening 77-yard drive which culminated with a 1-yard sneak by QB Andy Stahl of Anderson. Two South touchdown passes from Gridley QB Tim Hughes to Yuba City’s Derek Minnatee. Of 35 and 42 yards to Weed’s Savon Maxwell and 47 yards to Sparrow Tang of Etna, who made a spectacular run after catching the ball in the flat, to give the North an 18-12 halftime lead. The winning South score came in the third quarter after a snap over the punter’s head set them up on the North 5-yard line. Live Oak’s Jose Curiel scored from the four and Chris Weaver of Pleasant Valley scampered in with the two-point conversion which spelled the difference. The North had one last chance with 21 seconds left in the game when Hughes shanked a 2-yard punt to the South 19-yard line, but three Stahl passes fell incomplete. Curtis Parks of Williams coached the South and Modoc’s Shaun Wood coached the North.

1994

The North team, coached by Mark Pettengill of Foothill High School, pleased the local fans in Shasta College’s stadium with a resounding 44-14 victory over the South, reducing the South’s margin in the series to 9-7-1.  Corning’s Earl Murr scored the first quarter’s only touchdown on a 14-yard blast up the middle after a center snap over the head of South punter David Ellyson of Marysville had set up the North at the South 13. In the second quarter, a 38-yard pass from Lassen’s Bryan Sherman to Mitch Johnson of Red Bluff made it 14-0. The South, coached by Jim Arostegui of Live Oak, answered immediately on a 36-yard pass from Pierce’s Chuck Wayman to Sutter’s Erik Christofferson to close the margin to 14-8, with Wayman’s conversion pass to Nick Richter of Live Oak, but the North blew it open on a 3-yard plunge by Chad Cook of Trinity, a 15-yard pass from Sherman to Foothill’s Wes Johnson, and 2-point conversions by Rodney Wood of Yreka and Burney’s Dan Osborne for a 30-8 halftime lead. In the second half, the North added to the lead with a 47-yard run by Osborne, a 19-yard run by Tom Hair of Hayfork, and another conversion run by Osborne, while the South ended the scoring on 58-yard scamper by Andy Onyett of Wheatland.

1995

The North team, coached by Shaun Wood of Modoc High, pulled to within one game of the South at 8-9-1 with a 20-12 victory, in spite of a statistical disadvantage. The South, led by Chico’s Marco Jackson’s 94 rushing yards and Paradise quarterback Marcos Gonzales’ 187 passing yards, outgained their hosts, 342 to 289 in total yards, but were able to score only twice, to the frustration of their coach, Doug Kaelin of Gridley. After stopping the initial drive of the game on their own 35-yard line and forcing a punt which died on their one, the North scored on a four-play, 99-yard drive, 84 yards of it on a pass from Red Bluff’s Josh Caylor to Shasta’s Jason Jacoby; Brian Barker’s (Lassen) PAT attempt was blocked. Each team scored on short running plays after long drives in the third quarter, Gridley’s Steve Young diving in for the South to tie it, and Ryland Sanders of Red Bluff plunging for two yards for the North. The missed South PAT attempt and a two-point North Conversion pass, Caylor to Tulelake’s David Coronado, made it 14-6, North, entering the final period. The South made it close early in the fourth quarter, Jackson scoring from two yards out to make it 14-12, but the North countered with a ten-yard TD pass, Caylor to Weed’s Shannon Maas, to give them breathing room with 7:57 remaining.

1996

The North, coached by Clay Erro of Enterprise High, won, 39-14, in a game that was a contest only for a half. Anthony Brown of Foothill, Ray Potillor of Anderson, and Jeremy Seaholm of Central Valley ran for the North touchdowns, and Nick Mendenhall of Etna caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Kacalek of Enterprise. The South coached by Sutter’s Scott Turner, scored twice in the second quarter on passes by Colusa’s Todd MacKaben to Andy Sweet of Pierce and Peter Later of Pleasant Valley. Lassen High’s Jared Chaffin set two Lions All-Star game records, kicking four field goals to eclipse Colusa’s Hector Franco’s record of three in game number one in 1978, one of which was good for 46 yards, beating Franco’s previous record of 43 yards.

1997

The North overcame a 14-6 halftime deficit to eke out a 22-20 win, giving North coach Bob Hall of Corning his second All-Star win in two tries. The South, coached by Geoff Wahl of East Nicolaus, built its lead on an 11 yard run by East Nicolaus’ Ryan Gallagher and a three yard pass from the Spartans’ Brad Lauppe to Wheatland’s Mike Lucier. The North tied the game at 14 by blocking a Nick Rodgers (Maxwell) field goal attempt, with Weed’s Robert Russell returning it 86 yards and Ricky Ray passing to Joe Duran for the extra points with 10:19 play. Pleasant Valley’s Benson Manen to returned a kickoff 87 yards, breaking the tackles and dodging and darting to tie the score again at 20. A taunting penalty on the South turned Redgers’ PAT attempt into the equivalent of a 35 yard field goal, and it was blocked. Russell almost broke the ensuing kickoff for another score, but was pushed out of bounds at the South 27. Ray completed a pass to the 10, then threw to the goal line, but it was intercepted by Williams’ Javier Garcia, who was downed at three. On the next play, Dean Smiley broke through to tackle the sweeping Gallagher for a safety and the 22-20 win, giving the North a 10-9-1 advantage in the series.

1998

The two teams scored early and late in the 21st game, with the North team, coached by Big Valley’s Matt Hunsaker, winning, 24-15. The North team drew first blood late in the first quarter on a 14-yard run by Foothill’s Joe Stallworth, with the South, coached by Mike Pena of Biggs, striking back on a Dan Salazar
(Colusa) to Kevin Baxley (Biggs) 46-yard pass, which Baxley caught on a deflection, and a two-point conversion pass to Colusa’s Andrew Wallace for a brief 8-7 lead. Lassen’s Brian Jenson booted a North field goal for a 10-8 lead to set up the frantic fourth quarter. The North upped its lead 17-8 on a 21-yard run by QB Garrett White of Corning with 7:33 left in the game. The South answered on the ensuing kickoff when Baxley took the kick and handed the ball to Chico’s Sean Hall, who raced 86 yards to a touchdown to make it 17-15 with 7:06 to go, but White clenched it for the North with a 47-yard keeper with less than a minute left.

1999

The South ended a five-game losing streak with a 28-14 win over the North at Shasta College, closing the gap in the series record to 11 wins for the North, 10 wins for the South, and one tie. All four South touchdowns came via the air, three by Northern Section CIF offensive MVP Brian Jones of Pleasant Valley High of Chico, and one by Quincy’s Matt Ray. Jones threw two passes of 38 yards to Kevin Jenson of Yuba City, 15 yards to Aaron Montgomery of Quincy, and a 70-yarder to Chris Noor of Las Plumas of Oroville in the fourth quarter which clinched the win, while Ray opened the scoring with a first-quarter 33-yard strike to Brandon Heater, also of Quincy. The vaunted North rushing attack did score one touchdown in the second quarter when Northern Section all-time leading rusher Oscar Rigg of Lassen High of Susanville fumbled at the South one-yard line, but quarterback Perry Cloud of Foothill of Redding scooped up the ball and ran it in. Cloud threw a 74-yard to Clint Feminis of Mt. Shasta for the North’s other score. Tom McCormack of Wheatland High was the victorious South coach, while Steve Hubauer of Fall River High coached the North.

2000

The Red Bluff passing combination of quarterback Justin McKim and receiver Mike Cox connected 12 times for 248 yards and two touchdowns in leading the North squad to a 37-15 win in the first game of the new millennium, played at Marysville’s War Memorial Stadium. Cox caught nine passes for 165 yards and a touchdown in the first half as retiring coach Paul Johnson’s squad forged a 24-7 lead. McKim also hit Foothill’s Joe Spurlin and Jessie McNames of Etna for touchdowns in the first half. Live Oak’s Justin Epperson threw TD passes to his Live Oak teammate, Brian Sowden, and Wheatland’s Jeff Watson for the South’s scores; Tyler Holmes of Lassen returned an interception 53 yards for the final North touchdown. Jim McNulty of Oroville, the South coach, also retired from coaching after this game. With the victory, the North increased its advantage to 12 wins to 10 for the South, with one tie, which was a 15-15 game in 1978, the first of the series.

2001

After struggling for offensive continuity in the first half, the South, coached by Scott Turner of Sutter, exploded for two third-period touchdowns en route to a 21-7 victory in the 24th game. The lone North score came early in the second quarter when quarterback Tyler Lampella of Etna hit tight end Jonathan van Tol of Willows, who made a diving catch of the 11-yard pass for a 7-0 lead. Chico’s Garrett Cross set up the first South touchdown with an interception at the North’s 22-yard line, after which Wheatland’s Jim Baser capped the drive with a nine yard run for the TD; the two-point conversion attempt failed. Sutter quarterback Paul Reynolds found tight end Nathaniel Bond of Greenville with a pass from 27 yeards out, and Baser ran in the two-point conversion to make it 14-7. Cross capped the scoring by leaping over a North defender into the end zone with 1:44 left in the game. Baser rushed for 151 yards on 23 carries, and Reynolds was 10 for 28 for 106 yards passing and also added 100 yards on the ground. Curtis Parks of Willows coached the North.

2002

Anyone hoping for an exciting contest featuring the run against the pass is the 25th Annual Lions All-Star Football Game got exactly what they wanted Saturday night at Shasta College.  However, what most probably didn’t expect was for the North to pull out a 27-26 win by passing the ball. Using a punishing ground attack in the wishbone offense behind game MVP Kyle Harbaugh, the North played conservatively most of the game and ran the ball the majority of the time. But trailing 26-21 with 1 minute, 55 seconds left in the game and 97 yards to go for the go-ahead score, North coach Randy Harrison knew that he needed to try something different.  What Harrison came up with was a 97-yard drive that had pass plays from four different players, including a 10-yard touchdown pass from John Black to Blake Thorn with four seconds left in the game.  While the North was jubilant following the touchdown, the game was far from over. With a penalty on the North during the kickoff, the South was given one last play with no time remaining. Rodgers scrambled around in the backfield and heaved a 50-yard pass to the front of the end zone, but Thorn jumped high for the interception at the 1 to end the game. The victory gives the North a 13-11-01 advantage in the 25-year series.

2003

For the first time in the history of the Lions All-Star football game, it rained and what a downpour!!! The rain started just before the end of the second quarter and the cloudburst continued throughout half time. It continued sprinkling through the third quarter. The field was quite soaked and muddy. The second half of the game was scoreless. The final score was North 17 and South 9. The 26th annual Lions All-Star Football game, for the North team was coached by Tim Nobles of Bishop Quinn High School. The South team was coached by Mark Cooley of Hamilton City High School. The “Ray Francis” Most Valuable Player award was presented to Austin Stack of Bishop Quinn.

2004

Despite Eller’s MVP effort, North’s win streak ended in a 32-28 setback. Behind a blocked punt and recovery by Las Plumas’ Phillip Davis late in the third quarter, the South powered ahead 25-22. After stuffing the North on two straight possessions, the South widened its lead when Wheatland’s Adam McCleary scored on a 10 yard run.  Eller and the North responded on its next possession as Eller hit Lassen’s Brian Duffy for a 25 yard pass to move the score to 32-28. Pleasant Valley’s Eric Clendenning ended the North scoring when he intercepted Eller on the South’s 10 yard line. To earn the Ray Francis MVP Award, Shane Eller ran for 113 yards and one touchdown, threw for 35 yards and another touchdown. It was a high intensity game with the best players giving their all. This brings the series record to 14-12-1 with the North leading.

2005

For 3 1/2 quarters of the 28th annual Lions All-Star Football game, Steve Valliere did all he could to the North in striking distance.  The rest of the North offense pushed in the 4th quarter to win 27 - 24.  Valliere was the game's Most Valuable Player, who tallied 226 of total yards and two touchdowns.  Matt Nichols with two passing touchdowns during the 4th quarter sealing the win for the North Squad.  Outstanding South players, Jason Barreno and Eric West hooked up for three passing touchdowns.  The 4th quarter had four lead changes, but the North scored in the last seconds of the game to hold on the the win!

2006

The 29th Lions All-Star Football game took place on July 29th, 2006 at Shasta College.

"South No Match For The North" (quote from the Record Searchlight)

High School Seniors competing in what for some is the last game they will play in.

West Valley’s Jordan Atwell named the “Ray Francis” MVP award. Final Score 34-7. Central Valley’s head coach Matt Hunsaker coming off a undefeated season was voted by his peers to be the North Squad Coach stated after the game, ‘It wasn’t eleven guys but the entire team doing their jobs that gave them the edge on the field.’

Some outstanding players - QB - Darren Nye, Corning; Kyle Sandate, Orland; Nick Leedy, Central Valley; Victor Larry, Trinity; Greg Blackman, Lassen; Jesse Arter. Foothill; Tim Wallace, Red Bluff; Jake Kyle, Fall River; Boomer Fry, Hayfork; just to name a few that gave up two weeks of their summer to practice in 100 plus degree heat so they could play in our annual Game!

 
Contact us via e-mail with questions or comments.
Copyright © 2008 Lions Club District 4-C1
Last modified: February 02, 2008