One more chance to roar

The high-school football season has been extended for a select group of Northstate seniors, who will eagerly pad-up for the 33rd annual Lions All-Star Game, being played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Enterprise High School in Redding.

Both teams have taken advantage of unseasonably mild temperatures to get the most out of multiple practice sessions, with coaching staffs playing "plug-and-play" with a wealth of talented players in an effort to find the winning formations and formulas.

With the North holding a 17-14-1 advantage in the series and the South hungry to avenge last year's 38-32 defeat, the sounds of pad-to-pad combat will mix with the vociferous vocal support of partisan cheering sections to create a football experience second to none.

Tickets are still available for $10 at the gate, but with two high-powered offenses going at it, remaining in your seat is purely optional.

South plans on putting up balanced attack in Lions All-Star tilt

South head coach Steve Heskett, who won a Northern Section title in his second season coaching the Portola Tigers last fall, said the South is expected to sport an air attack with Pleasant Valley's Brad Lohse and Paradise's Garrett Rice in his arsenal at quarterback. And while that's true, with two of the top passers in the section, Heskett also said that the North may be caught off-guard by the South's supplemental ground game.

Linemen Zach Graves of Pierce and Andrew Michel of Williams, defensive backs Forrest Johnson of Willows and Gerardo Parra of Maxwell, and running back Carlos Gutierrez of Colusa were all selected to play for the South.

Gutierrez figures into the "surprise" scheme as one of the South's 10 running backs, but either way Gutierrez said he is excited to be a part of such a balanced offense.

The Redskins were predominantly a running team and even though it could mean less carries for him if the South throws the ball more, Gutierrez is happy to be learning more of the game.

"The plays are hard to learn, but every day is exciting for me," Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez, who ran for 1,487 yards during his senior year at Colusa and helped lead the Redskins to the section final game, plans to play for Yuba College this fall.

Johnson, who will be one of Lohse's targets at wide receiver, has been working mostly at cornerback and safety during practice this week.

He plans to major in criminal justice at Butte College, making this Lions game probably the last competitive football game of his life.

Johnson has played in big games before, comparing this All-Star game to the section championship battle with Hamilton his junior year, but said the Lions atmosphere is much more relaxed.

"This is more laid back," Johnson said, "but I'm excited to play in front of so many people again and proud to represent my school and community."

Another difference between playing in the Lions game versus a section championship, according to Johnson, is the fact that everybody is an All-Star in this contest.

"Everybody here is a lot faster; there's no weak link," Johnson said.

Parra was a running back and receiver for the playoff-bound Panthers during his prep career. He scored 14 touchdowns and averaged 91 rushing yards and 25 receiving yards per game, but Heskett is equally excited about what Parra can provide on the defensive side of the ball.

"He's going to start at outside linebacker," Heskett said. "We can put him anywhere; he's willing to do anything for us."

Michel reported to camp wearing a knee brace and aggravated the injury on Tuesday.

"Everyone was really disappointed," Heskett said. "We invited him to be in uniform and on the sidelines with us at the game, and we hope he decides to participate that way."

With Michel's injury forcing him to withdraw from competition, Graves (6'0"/250) is the third-largest lineman on the South squad.

Heskett said Graves will be a critical part of the line's success and also called him "the most entertaining" player in camp.

The South squad is stationed in the California State University, Chico, dormitories at Craig Hall, and there he won the team's karaoke contest after a practice earlier in the week. He performed Ludicrous' "Money Maker" sans shirt, according to Heskett.

"Zach is a great kid and we're all having a great time having him on the team," Heskett said.

Heskett saw them all in action Thursday at an intra-squad scrimmage at the newly-renovated Harrison Stadium in Oroville, which was the first experience playing on artificial turf for some of his players.

North squad hopes to spread the wealth

There are exactly 160 inches from sideline to sideline on the Enterprise High football field, and North coach Darren Trueblood will utilize all of them as the North spreads its offense to attack the South.

"We'd like to stretch and widen the defense, and stay as balanced as we can offensively," the coach said Wednesday, as the North squad scrimmaged under the lights at Enterprise.

"We're going to run multiple formations and get the ball to players who know what to do with it," he added.

Trueblood's formula proved successful for his Enterprise Hornets this season, as they put together an 11-1 mark and captured the Northern Section Division I championship. Oddly enough, while Trueblood is coaching on his home turf, the North squad is actually tonight's visiting team.

A quartet of tri-county athletes could figure prominently in the North's effort.

Orland High's Cole Sampson, along with Mike Farris from Foothill, will call signals. Sampson is extremely mobile, and led the Trojans in rushing last season with 674 yards rushing, while passing for 789 and nine TDs.

With the spread offense and blocking assignments opening up running lanes, the North backfield includes six different backs who gobbled up the gridiron for more than 1,000 yards last season. Leading the pack in Hamilton's Omar Diaz (1,925 yards), followed by Matt Mayes of Modoc (1,498); Darren Lee, Lassen (1,383); Fontaine Richardson, Corning (1,112); Bryan Coleman, Enterprise (1,019); and C.J. Valdivia, Central Valley (1,016). Los Molinos' Richie Lakin also lends his fleet feet to the North's impressive running corps.

The North has no easy task on the defensive side of the ball.

"They've got special athletes," Trueblood said of the opposition.

One of the special athletes he made special mention of was Pleasant Valley's Logan Valencia, who led the section with 1,271 receiving yards. Adding to the danger of trying to slow him, is the fact he will no doubt be on the receiving end of many attempts from PV teammate Brad Lohse. The tall right-handed thrower connected for 1,899 yards during the season, and will share QB duties with Paradise's Garrett Rice.

Trueblood also believes the South running game - while not as deep as the North's - is still formidable.

"They're more of a power team, and we're going to have to stop their run and their backs," the coach commented.

Leading the South's ground charge are Colusa's Carlos Gutierrez (1,487) and Portola's Alberto Pena (1,302) - its only 1,000-yard rushers.

Sampson, Richardson, Diaz and Lakin will also be called upon to shore up the North's defensive backfield, and hopefully help the North savor the sweet taste of victory for the second year in a row.