Orange County All-Star Football Game : Recktenwald Paces the South to 28-13 Victory

Suppose you were choosing up sides for an Orange County all-star football game and picked the county’s all-time leading rusher, the premier running back, the single-season-record pass receiver and the toughest two-way lineman. You’d probably win the game, right?

Well, the North may have had the star players but it didn’t come close to winning Friday night in the 27th renewal of the game that pits the county’s best senior players as the South rolled to a 28-13 victory before 7,200 fans in Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium. The series now stands at 15-11-1 in the North’s favor.

And what about those star players?

Running back Ray Pallares of Valencia, the state’s all-time leading rusher with 5,398 yards, was reduced to a bit player with 51 yards in 12 carries.

Fullback Chuck Weatherspoon of La Habra, who some scouts rated as the best running back in the county since Kerwin Bell, managed only 40 yards on 10 carries. His longest run, a 13-yard burst, came in the last quarter.

Robbie Katzaroff, who set a county mark with 93 receptions for Los Alamitos last fall, was virtually ignored until the final quarter when he caught a six-yard touchdown pass from quarterback J. T. Snow.

El Modena lineman Don Gibson managed to live up to his reputation, but he couldn’t do the job alone. He was forced to play on both sides of the line when Servite’s offensive tackle Mike Grabowski couldn’t do the job.

Instead, the stars of this game were South defensive linebacker Kevin McClelland of Newport Harbor, and linemen Franco Pagnanelli and Scott Moberly of Huntington Beach, Herman Baine of Westminster and Dan O’Connell of Woodbridge. McClelland was named the defensive player of the game, but the award could have easily gone to Baine or Moberly. In short, the five players dominated.

Offensively, quarterback Shane Foley of Newport Harbor shined, which was expected. The USC-bound signal caller completed 9 of 18 pass attempts for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns. The offensive player of the game was La Quinta running back Bart Recktenwald, who rushed for 46 yards, caught 4 passes for 129 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

But the real stars for the South were the offensive linemen. The only question mark among a talented South squad was whether the line could provide the pass blocking against Gibson & Co. to protect Foley. Any doubts were answered in the first half.

Foley passed for 96 yards and a touchdown in the first half to lead the South to a 14-6 lead and the North could never catch up. The South line, led by Mission Viejo center Rick Costello, did not allow a sack the entire game.

“We felt we had to prove ourselves, but it was never a question in our minds whether we could do the job,” Costello said.

Observers had watched Baine, Moberly and others push the South’s offensive linemen around in practice for three weeks and wondered if they could do the job.

“Personally, I can’t make myself kill a guy across from me when he’s my teammate,” Costello said. “I prepared myself for Gibson, not my teammates.”

South Coach Bill Crow had promised a wide-open passing game, but he found that his offensive line could provide the holes for an equally effective ground game.

The South gained 142 yards rushing to complement Foley’s passing and finished with 349 yards in total offense.

“I thought we were going to throw the ball, but we ran well,” Crow said. “We made one bad mistake offensively, but the guys up front did a great job.”

The mistake Crow referred to was a late interception thrown by backup quarterback Eric Turner that North linebacker Chris Wright returned 76 yards to cut the South’s lead to 14-6 at halftime. The North managed only one touchdown offensively.

The South quickly shifted the momentum back in its favor in the third quarter when Foley teamed with Recktenwald on a short pass play that Recktenwald turned into an 80-yard touchdown play. The play established an all-star record, surpassing a 63-yard pass play from quarterback Bob Pillon to Jack Haynes set in 1965.

“I was hoping to get a 15- to 20-yard gain on the play,” Crow said. “I didn’t realize Bart was that fast. I’m sure Bill Workman enjoyed it.” Recktenwald will attend Orange Coast in the fall.