Fryer: Prep All-star football game's early start a fair deal

COSTA MESA ? This year's Brea Lions Orange County North-South Prep All-Star Football Game was played on an unusually early date.

Historically, the game at Orange Coast College is played on the same Friday night in early or mid July as the opening night of the Orange County Fair. The fair's continued surge in popularity has made it necessary for nearby Orange Coast College to be used for fair parking. The fair's All-Star game chairman Phil Anton said the parking squeeze necessitated an earlier date for the game.

"We did look at July 5," Anton said. "But that's right after the Fourth of July, and we thought too many people would be out of town. So we went with June 28."

RARE MISS

Grif Amies did something he rarely did during regular-season games. The All-Orange County kicker missed a field goal.

Amies kicked 22 field goals for Corona del Mar in the 2012 season, his senior year. That tied the state record set by Chris Sailer of Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.

Amies missed a 27-yard attempt with 29 seconds remaining in the second quarter Friday.

Amies missed his final field-goal try of the '12 season. His 57-yard effort late in the fourth quarter of the CIF-SS Southern Division championship game was just short of the target. Earlier he made a 43-yarder, the one that tied for the record, in the Sea Kings' victory over Garden Grove in the Southern Division final at Angel Stadium.

COACHING FRATERNITY

An all-star coaching staff often is a mix of the head coach's assistants from his high school, with perhaps a longtime friend who is head coach at another school. That was the case with the North coaching staff. Fred DiPalma of Katella brought in Anaheim coach Lanny Booher to be the defensive coordinator.

FUNDRAISER

The Brea Lions organize and manage the all-star game for charity. Proceeds from Friday's game will go to the PADRE Foundation (Pediatric Adolescent Diabetic Research & Education), Western Youth Services, Orange County Youth Foundation and other groups.

Past all-star AJ Hoover, Orange County football's leading tackler at Canyon a few seasons ago, spoke at halftime about how he managed his diabetic condition so he could continue to play football.

NOTES

Time Warner Cable channel 101 will carry taped coverage of the game Monday at 8 p.m. Other telecasts are Wednesday, July 6 and July 7 at 8 p.m. ...

Attendance was approximately 4,800 at Orange Coast College, which has a capacity of 7,600. ...

Catch of the game: Cody White, El Toro. In the third quarter, White went up to snare a pass from Corona del Mar's Cayman Carter, pulling the ball through the hands of a North defender. White ran another 20 yards to the South 47 for a first down. ...

The decidedly defensive game did not provide many offensive highlights. Of the few there were, the best might have been a 44-yard pass play by the South. Carter threaded an over-the-middle pass to Scott Hoover of San Juan Hills, who was brought down at the North 9-yard-line at the point of the catch. The South appeared to score on the next play, but the end-zone catch by Cole Robinson of Capistrano Valley was waved off because of an offensive pass interference call. ...

The North-South border for the game had been the 22 Freeway, until this year's game. In a pursuit of improved competitive equity, the border was moved south, to Warner Avenue. The smaller South still won for the fifth time in a row and has won nine of the past 11.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com

Source: http://www.ocvarsity.com/articles/game-37950-orange-south.html

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