The North-South all-star football blog in its entirety...

Read the rest of this entry »

The North starts at midfield, and ends there too. Saumur is intercepted by Blake, who makes a nice return. The South might be able to run the clock out.

Morris picks up nine yards on third and 16. The South looks to be attempting a 53-yard field goal before a timeout on the field leaves the crowd restless. I guess the South isn't certain abouyt this field goal. Meanwhile, a rep from Morris's camp asks us to inform the PA that Jai's first name is pronounced Jay not Jy.

The South ends up punting and Miller kicks it to the North 3. Well done.

With little more than two minutes left, Morales completes a first down to El Dorado's Nolan Sheldon. Morales completes another first down to Canyon's Christian Daniel. The North is at its own 30.

WOW! Morales hits Swaney down the leftsideline for a 61-yard completion. The North is at the 9. Swaney caught it between two defenders and broke a tackle to pick up some extra yardage.

Touchdown, North. Morales scrambled to his left and completed an off balance lob to Daniel. Remember, the North had just gone 39 minutes without any points from it's offense.

The kick is not attempted after a bad snap, but a face mask penalty by the South means we're kicking again. Or, for the first time, I should say. 

Or not. The North tries for two and fails.

South 10, North 12

0:56 in 4Q

Audagnotti runs for 12 yards on first down but that is all the South gets. Don't go to the bathroom folks, or you'll miss a punt or two.

The North takes over and quickly moves downfield following a 38-yard pass from La Habra's Chris Morales to Petey Puga. The North is at the South 36. Its drive stalls and the crowd begins to boo. Shame on you, guys. On a brighter note, Sewell is back in the MVP game. He just pinned the South inside the 10.

Curtis completes a third-down conversion to The Abbott.

The South then punts a few plays later.

South 10, North 6

Mid 4Q

The North goes three and out. I don't know how many more punts I can take. I don't know how many Sewell can take. He didn't even bother going into the locker room at halftime. I think he's mad.

The South returns the favor via Sagaiao punt. He kicks this one quite well and climbps up that MVP board. Sorry, this is the most interesting thing to talk about right now.

El Modena's Ray Holley gains 20 yards on a screen pass. Three plays later the North is punting. Of course.

Audagnotti goes up the middle for 26 yards. See, this is why I picked the South. No team with two Carlos can lose.

And the South fumbles it away. C'mon, boys. Orange Lutheran's Blake Hyepock throws to a hopeful Josh Swaney, who has no chance of making a play on the ball after being thrown down by Roy (er, Harold) Williams. No call.

"That's the worst thing I've ever seen not called," Fryer says. "I've been to more games than Tom Landry." He insisted that I include this because it truly was a bad call.

I feel like Bernard McGuirk right now.

The North courageously elects not to punt on fourth and 4 and turns it over on downs.

South 10, North 6

End of 3Q

It's 9:00 and Damian is threatening to leave. I don't want to say why, but let's just say he is not thrilled with Dan right now.

After Gary Lopez of the North breaks up a pass it becomes clear Santiago has the most fans in the house.

Sewell's MVP candidacy is on the line. He punts it 20 yards.

The South takes over at the North 31. Following a a big loss, Curtis completes a 26-yard pass to Fountain Valley's Bryse Blake.

On the next play, Fryer astutely notices the safety playing way off The Abbott and Morris scampers right through that very hole and scores. Nice.

South 10, North 6

Mid 3Q

Miller gets 12 yards on a fake handoff and the North is at midfield. A few plays later it's fourth-and-30 after a high snap and a sack. It might be time to get a punter in the MVP convo. Earnie Sagiao makes his bid with a 26-yarder.

Fletcher takes a draw and is tackled way out of bounds. Dan is livid. Damian is indifferent. I'm hungry.

Oh, and the North is punting. Sewell is No. 2 in the MVP race after a 38-yarder inside the South 20.

Rev. Jesse Jackson just made a cameo in the PA booth, although I cannot reveal what he said. 

Brad Curtis makes a huge play, rescuing a high snap by tiptoeing the back of the end zone and throwing it away. The South is punting. Miller punts it 54 yards to nearly steal the MVP away from Jones.

What a half.

North 6, South 3

Halftime

El Toro's Jai (pronounced Jay) Morris returns the kickoff 59 yards. The South runs three times, including a reverse (hey!) and tries a 41-yard field goal.

University's Louis Feinstein knocks it through and Fryer predicts the South stops using Santa Barbara players. The night is young.

Fletcher takes a draw eight yards, except it's third-and-17. Yes, this means the North is punting again. Here's Sewell's chance. It goes 37 yards. I still say he's an MVP wild card.

North 6, South 3

Mid 2Q

The North unsuccessfully tries to run again and is punting.

And I just got called out because I don't match. I knew this when I left the house but I really wanted to wear this new hat I got in Boston on Monday.

"Logan Sewell, MVP," Damian says. "We can go home now."

Kameron Jones makes another push for MVP with an interception on an attempted screen pass from Miller. The North is inside the South 10.

The North fumbles twice and loses the second. The South takes over inside its 5.

And that's bad. Lukas strips Santa Margarita's Carlo Audagnotti and Jones recovers for a touchdown. Now who's the MVP? Sewell needs another 65-yard punt to keep up.

North 6, South 0

Mid 2Q

Jason Davis of La Habra picks up five yards. He looks much bigger than his 5-9, 188-pound listing in the media guide. We have yet to see Cypress' Ryan Saumur, winner of the Rishard Matthews Award, given to the player we will miss the most next year.

Saumur enters the game and is stopped for a five-yard loss, leading to another North punt. Brea Olinda's Logan Sewell punts it 60 yards to the South 10.

"Logan Sewell, frontrunner for MVP," Damian says. And he's right.

Brady Lukas makes a tackle foir a loss. Him and Sewell are like LeBron and Paul Pierce in their Game 7 Eastern Conference semifinal shootout. Los Al's Kameron Jones sacks Foothill's Chad Miller and the South is punting again.

Valencia's Wes Fletcher picks up a first down for the North with a four-yard run. The North is at the South 34.

Dan tells me I'm on spot. But not like Santa Margarita's Kirk Skierski, who takes down Davis in the backfield. Or the PA, who says Skierski is from Santa Barbara.

South 0, North 0

End of 1Q

"(South coach Jason) Negro says reverse on the first play." It's a nine-yard pass to The Abbott from Mater Dei.

Dan really thought it would be a reverse. You know, because if I were a coach I would tell my plays to the guy who picked the roster of the opponent.

Esperanza's Brady Lukas intercepts San Clemente's Brad Curtis's pass and the North has it inside the South 45.

Orange Lutheran's Blake Hyepock moves the North 20 yards before throwing a pick to Tesoro's Chad Garrett. Garrett returns it to the North 41.

"That's Ralphie coming up with the lumber," Dan says a few plays later. I don't know what this means.

It's fourth and 4. "Is this your reverse now, Dan?" Fryer asks.

The South punts.

South 0, North 0

Mid 1Q

Dan Albano just scored a touchdown, Steve Fryer just did three good impersonations of the PA and Damian Calhoun just learned how to use his BlackBerry. My crew is wild nice.

I took a look through the program and I'm going with the Southside. Everyone is picking the North but too many of their players look like they aren't sure if they should smile or not. Smiling is the new black. 

Kickoff is moments away at the Brea Lions North-South All-Star Game at Orange Coast College.

Adam Maya/OCVarsity since 2004