Shrine All-Star Football Game : South Rallies Behind Defense, 12-6

There is no truth to the rumor that, for the second straight year, Irwin Allen directed the South offense in the Shrine All-Star football game. The master of disaster would have fit in well, though, in Saturday night’s meeting of the best high school players in the state.

Picture this: Jim Bonds of Newhall Hart and Ken Sollom of Canyon Country Canyon at quarterback; Eric Bieniemy of La Puente Bishop Amat, Leonard Russell of Long Beach Poly and George Hemingway of Colton at running back, and Patrick Rowe of San Diego Lincoln and Kelvin Means of Bellflower St. John Bosco at receiver were worth. . . . 12 points.

But the two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one a 10-yard pass from Bonds to Bieniemy and the other a 4-yard toss from Bonds to Russell held up thanks to the defense, which held the North to 122 yards in total offense to key a 12-6 win for the South before a Rose Bowl crowd of 22,495.

Bieniemy took the starring role, on the field at least. The 5-foot 8-inch All-Southern Section running back finished with 140 yards on 23 carries (a 6.1 average), 107 of which came in the second half as the South came back from a 6-0 deficit.

Off the field--or best supporting role--Armando Gonzales, the coach from Franklin, gave an award-winning effort of his own. Using the 5-2 defense that helped the Panthers to the City 2-A title, which they later lost due to an ineligible player, the North scored on the game’s second play from scrimmage as quarterback Mark Barsotti from Madera hit Rod Moore of Richmond Kennedy on a 71-yard scoring play, but never again.

The North even had the ball on the South 35 with 2:55 left in the six-point game thanks to Stacy Argo’s interception of a Bonds pass, but came away empty when Kevin Smith’s fumble two plays later was recovered by El Toro’s Scott Ross.

“The defense didn’t bend,” said linebacker Tyrone Rodgers from Wilmington Banning, one of the South stars. “We didn’t fold. The offense would make a mistake and the defense would came right out and make up for it.”

Said Gonzales: “After the first three plays, the defense got better and better and better. The offense was not scoring, but they still helped us because the defense was off the field. We were rested at the end.”

After a 3-3 final score in last year’s game, the expected firepower of having Bonds and Sollom at quarterback for the same team was a disappointment in the first two quarters. Again.

The pair, who combined to throw for 68 touchdowns and more than 6,000 yards last season, was 4 of 17 for 74 yards through the first half, with Bonds getting 50 of those on a first-quarter hookup with Patrick Rowe of San Diego Lincoln. That completion put the South on the North 18-yard line, but after two short gains on the ground and two incompletes by Bonds, the North took posession.

In the Daily News all-star game two weeks ago, Sollom, the Coastal Conference co-MVP, and Bonds, the Northwestern Conference Player of the Year, had similar problems getting into a groove, totaling 168 yards on 41 throws as their team lost, 21-6.

Even in victory this time, things didn’t look too much better.

Bonds, heading for UCLA, completed 6 of 18 attempts for 94 yards and the two short touchdowns. Sollom, who now must win his playing time at Michigan, where Bo Schembechler recruited two other highly-rated quarterbacks, was 5 of 17 for 59 yards.

“I thought we played real well on both sides of the ball,” said El Toro’s Bob Johnson, along with Gonzales and Bill Redell of Encino Crespi the tri-coaches for the South. “The defense played a great game. Stat-wise, we didn’t look great, but I still think the offense played real well.”