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News Sports Local Sports Area grid stars lead North over South; Redskin Wilson is named MVP for 38th annual Lions Classic
Area grid stars lead North over South; Redskin Wilson is named MVP for 38th annual Lions Classic
 SONORA WILDCAT outside linebacker Ryan Kelly (55) makes a first-quarter tackle for the North in the 38th annual Lions All-Star Classic Football Game played in Stockton on Saturday night. Kelly, along with Calaveras Redskins Monti Wilson and Chris Ussery, helped lead the North to a 21-6 victory. JASON BUCK/UNION DEMOCRAT “Monti says to me, ‘Hey, Coach, I’m going for the big hit tonight before going for the ball,’ ” said Perkins. “And I’m thinking that a Monti Wilson hit sure would ignite our football team. But I was also hoping he’d go get a pick, too.” Mission accomplished. With everything. Wilson made more big hits than any other All-Star. He had a game-high eight tackles. He also hauled in the sole interception of the contest — a second-half, game-changing pick which ultimately doomed the South. The North was victorious, 21-6, and Wilson earned Most Valuable Player honors. “Monti was the core of our defense tonight,” said Perkins. “He did a great job (as co-captain) motivating our guys all week, not just tonight.” “Well,” said North head coach Todd Dillon, “the newspaper (The Union Democrat) had him pegged right: Monti is a missile! From the very start of practice this week, he was hitting people. During walk-throughs, no-contact drills, there’s Monti still hitting people. He was fun to watch tonight.” Holding the MVP plaque, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Wilson said, “This is the best feeling I could possibly imagine. I am so thankful to all of my teammates. They prepared me for this. I want to thank Coach Perkins, Coach Dillon and all of my Calaveras coaches and teammates. They were the ones who set me up for this. “I do think all night long, from start to finish, our whole team played well.” The South returned the opening kickoff to its 26-yard line. Across the line of scrimmage, for the first time in at least six years, three Mother Lode All-Stars were in the North’s starting defensive lineup: Wilson, Redskin cornerback Chris Ussery and Sonora outside linebacker Ryan Kelly. And it was the robust, tenacious 6-foot, 220-pound Kelly who decided to send an early message. Actually, a lot of messages. And his messages weren’t along the lines of let’s have a nice, sociable game tonight. Instead, after the South earned a first down to its 49-yard line, the impassioned Kelly got medieval. South halfback Ricky Fuentes — 1,147 yards for Turlock in 2010, 11.3 yards per carry — took a handoff and tried to run around the edge. Kelly blasted through one blocker, ran past another then dropped Fuentes flat for a 2-yard loss. On second down, another 1,100-yard-plus rusher, Arquel Rogers (Modesto), was brought down by Kelly for a 6-yard loss. The South then gained 17 yards on a pass and faced fourth-and-1 at the North 42. Le Grand fullback Bob Perez — 1,863 rushing yards in 2010, 11.8 per carry — took the handoff. Kelly smashed unhindered by a would-be blocker and then ... boom! Perez was laying on the lawn with a 1-yard loss and Kelly draped all over him. Yes, four plays, three ferocious Kelly tackles, and the South offense was dismissed to the sidelines. “My adrenaline was just pumping,” explained Kelly. “I was just trying to set the tone. I just figured, shoot, just give it my all, run hard, hit people and let’s see what happens.” “Kelly? You mean ‘Urlacher?’ Kelly has a motor that doesn’t stop and he showed everyone that tonight,” said North linebackers coach Robert Sperling. “Kelly has a natural nose for the ball. I love him. In a 4-3, the bottom line is he had the ‘D-gap’ — the outside gap, which is the most important gap. But he also was responsible for hooking the curl, and covering the flat pass. He had to make split-second decisions. And that’s what he did and it worked.” Kelly ended the half with five total tackles. “I don’t need to see film to grade Kelly tonight,” said Sperling. “Here’s the grade: A-plus. And that’s how he was all week in practice, too.” With 1:29 left in the first quarter, the South took a 6-0 lead on a 29-yard scoring toss from Ravonne Pious (Orestimba) to Herbert Whitehurst (Enochs). The North then scored 21 unanswered points. On offense, Kelly was superb at right guard all night. All three scores by the North were run to Kelly’s side. With 5:06 left in the second quarter, Kelly pulled off a pulverizing block on Dashawn Mena, (6-3, 285) of Ceres, and North quarterback Teejay Gordon (East Union) rushed around the right edge for a 6-yard score. Later, with 24 seconds left in the half, Kelly eliminated defensive lineman Alejandro Montoya (Los Banos), as North quarterback Casey Wichman (Tracy) connected with Collin Rhodes (Lodi) in the right half of the endzone for an 8-yard TD reception. Kelly’s biggest block of the game was in the fourth quarter. Up 14-6 and facing a fourth-and-1 at the South 2-yard line, Kelly took care of Mena and Wichman took care of the football, lofting a perfect go-get-it jump-ball pass to Donzale Ashley in the far-right corner of the endzone. “I’m about 220 and that guy is, like, 290 pounds,” said Kelly. “I just got low, hit him in the chest, stood his butt up and there was nothing he could do about it. The low man wins in that situation.” North offensive line coach and former New York Giant starting offensive lineman Greg Bishop (1993-98) said, “Ryan Kelly showed tonight what a stud he is. I wish I had five of him every year where I coach (Lodi). My brother-in-law (Eric Aitken) is an assistant basketball coach to Rick Francis at Sonora, and he had told me how good Ryan was. Oh, was he ever right!” “Finishing my high school career tonight with a ‘W’ is the best feeling in the world,” said Kelly. Making a major contribution to the North win was Ussery. The 5-foot-7 cornerback was challenged time and again by receivers that stood 6-foot-2, and Ussery never gave up any meaningful reception. “The reason Chris was so successful tonight is because, first, he has such great footwork,” said Sperling. “He got himself in the right body position. He was always around the ball and he just kept everything in front of him.” “Chris was never beat on any long passes and that’s pretty impressive when you’re going up against such skilled receivers,” said Dillon. “He didn’t get beat,” said Perkins of Ussery. “He did a great job for us. He’s out-sized, but he’s got such a big heart. He played with great technique and filled. I thought he did a nice job in the first half and then even better in the second.” “I just did what the coaches told me to do,” said Ussery. “I felt confident that they’d put me in the right spots to make the plays. Size doesn’t matter to me. I’ve learned to play from the heart and learned to play hard. Paying attention to excellent coaches has gotten me success throughout my whole high school career.” With 6:16 left in the third quarter, and the North up 14-6, Ussery tackled Cody Weinzheimer (Patterson) on a quarterback-keeper which netted four yards. The next play, second-and-6 at the North 31-yard line, Weinzheimer let fly a tight spiral, but Wilson made the interception at the 15. The fast-footed Wilson then made a 27-yard return. “They were trying to run a post to their tight end,” explained Wilson. “The ball got tipped and then I just caught it.” “That play won the game for us,” said Sperling. “It was the momentum changer. You could feel the momentum swing on the sidelines. That pick by Monti flipped everything to us and we never looked back.” In fact, the South didn’t run another play from scrimmage until there was just 8:03 to play. And from that point on, the South only gained 16 yards total. “Monti’s pick was huge,” said Dillon. “It was the big momentum swinger.” “It turned the whole game,” said Perkins of Wilson’s pick. “Our offense did a great job scoring and then our defense just amped things up a little more.” Wilson put an exclamation point on the contest with 6:19 to play. Weinzheimer went deep to receiver Michael Brown (Johansen) down the left sidelines. The ball took a nice 40-yard journey. But just as football and Brown met up, Wilson joined the party with a walloping blast sending Brown to the turf and the football to the ground. “That hit made me cry tears of joy!” beamed Sperling. “Before the game, I told Monti, ‘This isn’t just a normal high school football game. This is the best of the best and you can really prove yourself.’ And that’s what he did. He proved himself tonight.” |
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