It’s just one year before the Central California Lions All-Star Football Game reaches the big 5-0, but before that the 49th annual all-star game was set to be played on Saturday night, June 21 at 7 pm at Wayne Schneider Stadium in Tracy.
The South won the 2024 all-star 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. The last North win in the series was in 2019, which was the final year before the COVID pandemic caused the event to be cancelled and then not held until 2023.
Head coaches Tony Franks from St. Mary’s of Stockton from the North and Jeremy Plaa from Downey of Modesto from the South were directing practices this week at their respective high schools. The players also were fed dinner at the conclusion of their practices. Patterson Lions cooked for the South on Tuesday with pulled pork sandwiches. Hughson Lions was scheduled for the South on Wednesday with Escalon Lions scheduled for the North on Wednesday.
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 of being at Tracy since the 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.
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. Plaa’s team at Downey won an SJS D1 playoff game over Edison (Stockton) last season and then lost to eventual champ Folsom in the quarterfinals, 68-28. 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.
Game Ticket Info
This year’s game will feature tickets that can be purchased through GoFan.com. Tickets are $15.
Roster Updates
According to North head coach Tony Franks on the Wednesday prior to the game, there was only one player dropped from the roster since the banquet for the game that was held in April. In the previous two years, as many as 10 players had dropped from the banquet roster. No new players had been added.
On Tuesday after practice, South head coach Jeremy Plaa listed four new players – RB/LB Antonio Gutierrez of Delhi, OL/DL Chase Martin of Pitman, OL Colton Taylor of Hughson and WR Joseph Delte of Turlock. Players who dropped were from Los Banos, Hughson, Oakdale and Stone Ridge Christian.
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)
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, Tracy)
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)
Zak Willson (Sierra, Manteca)
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)
Joseph Delte (Turlock)
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)
Antonio Gutierrez (Delhi)
Scotty Hallmon (Central Catholic, Modesto)
Julian Higareda (Merced)
Daley Holmes (Downey, Modesto)
Carson Lamb (Downey, Modesto)
Jatavious Lewis (Merced)
Ismael Lopez (Downey, Modesto)
Chase Martin (Pitman, Turlock)
Dylan McCauley (Orestimba, Newman)
Aiden Millan (Atwater)
Ryne Moore (Downey, Modesto)
Adarias Morales-Saetern (Merced)
Richard Jr Nuku (Johansen, Modesto)
Time Sitala Jr. (Turlock)
Colton Taylor (Hughson)
Melea (Mj) Uili (Modesto)
Seneca Ybarra (Atwater)
MVP Awards Are Named In Honor
Of Lions Game Three Founders
Starting at the conclusion of the game two years ago and continuing for this year, the MVP will be honored with the Wayne Schneider MVP Award. The Defensive MVP will be honored with the Bob Mattos Defensive MVP Award while the Offensive MVP will be honored with the Les Ratzlaff Offensive MVP Award. Schneider (former Tracy High head coach), the late Mattos (formerly of Stockton Stagg) and the late Ratzlaff (formerly of Turlock) were the three coaches who primarily worked to start the Lions All-Star Game in 1974. They took it to the Lions District 4A-1 where it was approved and has been supported every year since.
High Schools Represented In
District 4A-1 of Lions International
North – Amador (Sutter Creek), Argonaut (Jackson), Bear Creek (Stockton), Bret Harte (Altaville), Calaveras (San Andreas), East Union (Manteca), Edison (Stockton), Escalon, Franklin (Stockton), Kimball (Tracy), Lathrop, Lincoln (Stockton), Lodi, Manteca, McNair (Stockton), Merrill West (Tracy), Mountain House, Ripon, Ripon Christian, River Islands (Lathrop), St. Mary’s (Stockton), Sierra (Manteca), Sonora, Stagg (Stockton), Summerville (Tuolumne), Tokay (Lodi), Tracy, Weston Ranch (Stockton).
South – Atwater, Beyer (Modesto), Big Valley Christian (Modesto), Buhach Colony (Atwater), Central Catholic (Modesto), Central Valley (Ceres), Ceres, Delhi, Denair, Downey (Modesto), El Capitan (Merced), Enochs (Modesto), Golden Valley (Merced), Grace Davis (Modesto), Gregori (Modesto), Gustine, Hilmar, Hughson, Johansen (Modesto), Le Grand, Livingston, Los Banos, Merced, Modesto, Modesto Christian, Oakdale, Orestimba (Newman), Pacheco (Los Banos), Patterson, Pitman (Turlock), Riverbank, Stone Ridge Christian (Merced), Turlock, Turlock Christian.
One Comment
Great breakdown of this year’s Lions All-Star Football Game! It’s always exciting to see high school talent from both North and South come together for such a meaningful event — and the history behind it makes it even more special. The dedication of coaches like Tony Franks and Jeremy Plaa really stands out.
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