TRACY – St. Mary’s High football coach Tony Franks is looking forward to the upcoming season.
He and his Rams assistant coaches got a taste of returning to the sidelines at Wayne Schneider Stadium on the Tracy High campus on Saturday, June 21. They served as the North coaches in the 49th annual Lions All-Star Football Game, in which their squad held off a late South rally to post a 42-37 win.
“The whole game was exciting,” Franks said.
This was the third consecutive year this classic was held at Tracy.
The victory improves the North to 27-19-2 in the series.
Both teams had five days of practice, and Franks felt his staff and South coach Jeremy Plaa of Downey and his assistant coaches did a “great job” in preparing their players for the annual summer contest.
The North entered the fourth quarter with a 28-17 lead. Then the final 12 minutes of the contest saw a combined five touchdowns.
The South scored the final touchdown of the game with 3:55 left on the clock when quarterback Dominic Gonzalez of Golden Valley of Merced tossed a 47-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Joseph Delte of Turlock. Kicker Kacob Wallace of Downey booted the extra point.
“Would have loved a chance to give our offense one more chance to have the ball,” said Plaa of the fourth quarter.
Looking to gain the football back on the kickoff, the North retained possession and was able to run out the clock for the win.
The North made it a 42-30 game at 5:19 when running back Cody Ferrante of Calaveras cut to his left and found his way into the end zone at the north end of the stadium on a 14-yard run. Tracy’s Elijah Gutierrez booted the extra point.
The South busted out a trick play to make the score 35-30 with 9:44 left in the game. The result was wide receiver Noah Cozart of Patterson hauling in a 54-yard halfback option pass and racing toward the end zone for the score. The extra point was also good.
The North’s first score in the final quarter came at 10:57. Quarterback Zackery Willson, who was named the game’s MVP, found North teammate and Edison wide receiver Marcus Harrison on a screen pass and raced down the North’s sidelines for a 48-yard touchdown. Gutierrez’s kick was also good to make it 35-23.
The South put points on the board first at the beginning of the quarter when Adarias Morales-Saetern, a running back from Merced, went up the middle and was untouched on a 5-yard run for a 28-23 score. South quarterback Carson Lamb of Downey threw a pass on the 2-point conversion, but North’s Adrian Bankston tipped the pigskin for an incomplete pass.
In the third quarter, the North, which held a 21-17 lead at halftime, found its way to the end zone when Willson found wide receiver Terrence Hampton of Lincoln on a 35-yard strike with 4:42 remaining on the clock. Gutierrez’s kick was good for a 28-17 score.
The North’s only touchdown in the second quarter was quarterback Cody Ferrante of Linden rocketing the ball to wide receiver Isaac Sagapolu of Edison for the 63-yard score. The extra point extended the team’s lead to 21-10.
Willson gave the North a 14-7 advantage in the opening quarter on a 13-yard run. Ferrante faked a handoff and hit Sagpaolu on a slant pattern for an 8-yard score with 9:37 in the quarter for a 14-7 score.
South wide receiver Johan Chaney of Davis scored the touchdown in between the North’s scores on a 1-yard run at 7:46. Wallace’s kick knotted the game at 7-7.
This is the second consecutive summer the prestigious all-star game provided excitement in the fourth quarter. In the 2024 meeting, the South posted an 18-15 win, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 4 seconds left in the game. The South held a 12-0 lead in the game, then the North rallied for a 15-12 score before the South’s come-from-behind victory.
Sagapolu was given the game’s offensive MVP award. Tracy linebacker Ruben Moreno, also part of the North roster, was the game’s Most Inspirational Award.
Franks is ranked seventh on the Sac-Joaquin Section all-time coaching wins list with a mark of 234-80-2 at St. Mary’s from 1984 to 1986 and 2002 through last season.
Tracy High is familiar with hosting the contest. It was held from 2013-18. Lincoln of Stockton was the host of the 2019 contest. The game was held at Modesto Junior College and the University of the Pacific’s Stagg Memorial Stadium prior. The latter side was torn down in 2014.
According to hsratings.com, St. Mary’s (9-3 in 2024), which is the defending Tri-City Athletic League champion, will open the preseason playing Bishop Manogue of Reno, Nevada, on Friday, Aug. 22.
Then, the Rams continue their non-league slate against Central Catholic of Modesto, Marin Catholic of Kentfield, Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills and De La Salle of Concord this preseason before starting league play against Lodi.
“This is a breath of fresh air for us,” Franks said. “To have a chance to do this this week with these guys is just what the doctor ordered for us, our staff. This feels fantastic. This felt like a Friday night football game.”
Mike Bush is a multimedia journalist in Northern California who was born and raised in the 209 area code. Follow him on X/Twitter: @MikeBMultimedia.
This article originally appeared on The Record: ‘The whole game was exciting’: North beats South in Lions All-Star slugfest
Reporting by Mike Bush/Special to The Record / The Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
