Orange County All-Star Football Game : South All-Stars Finally Arise in Second Half to Beat North

For 32 minutes Friday night, co-coaches Carl Sweet of El Dorado High School and Pat Mahoney of Villa Park had an underdog North team executing a clever game plan that contained South quarterback Bret Johnson of El Toro in the 29th Orange County All-Star football game.

The North kept the ball out of Johnson’s trigger-happy hands and shut out the prep sensation, who had passed for 65 touchdowns in three highly publicized seasons.

But when Johnson finally got his hands on the football, the South rallied for three touchdowns in the second half to win, 21-7, in front of a capacity crowd of 8,000 in Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium.

Johnson, limited to 26 yards passing in the first half, completed 6 of 7 pass attempts for 100 yards and a touchdown after intermission. The South’s victory narrowed the North’s series lead to 16-12-1.

Johnson teamed with tight end Pete Schmitt of Laguna Beach on a six-yard touchdown play with 4:05 remaining in the third quarter and then set up the game’s final score with a perfect 42-yard strike to wide receiver Davy Rawson of Capistrano Valley early in the fourth quarter.

Johnson’s pass to Rawson gave the South a first down on the North’s 4-yard line, setting up Ricky Lepule’s touchdown run that gave the South a 21-7 lead. Johnson, who completed 10 of 14 pass attempts for 126 yards, was named the offensive player of the game.

“We only had 16 plays in the first half, so I really couldn’t do much,” Johnson said. “It was just a matter of time. It was difficult to get any rhythm going when you don’t have the ball.”

The North had 33 plays in the first half with a ball-control offense and ended both of the South’s scoring threats with turnovers. Defensive back Matt Shackelford stopped the South’s first drive by recovering Schmitt’s fumble at the North 46 midway through the first quarter.

Defensive back Mike Edwards of Valencia ended another South drive by intercepting a Johnson pass at the North 17 midway through the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the North totaled 123 yards in offense, including 57 yards rushing, in the first half and held a surprising 7-0 lead. Quarterback David Chisum of Sunny Hills clearly outplayed Johnson in the half, completing 9 of 14 pass attempts for 70 yards and a touchdown.

Chisum accounted for the North’s touchdown by tossing a five-yard scoring pass to fullback Paul Maund of Orange with 6:18 remaining in the first quarter. Then the big crowd sat in silence for the remainder of the half as the North’s defense dominated.

The South started quickly in the second half and turned the game around late in the third quarter when linebacker Jimmy Burke of Woodbridge intercepted a pass at the North’s 28-yard line and returned it 15 yards.

Four plays later, tailback Robert Lee of Santa Ana scored on a one-yard dive over the middle and the South had its first lead, 14-7. Later, South linebacker Jeff Pease of Mission Viejo, named the defensive player of the game, credited Burke’s interception for changing the complexion of the game.

“We were down, and Jimmy Burke turned the whole game around,” Pease said. “I got the award, but he deserved to win it. He made the biggest play of the game.”

Bob Johnson, South coach, credited the North for executing its possession-control offense and credited Burke for changing the momentum.

“Any turnover at that point of the game was really big,” Johnson said. “But I thought if we got the ball, we’d light it up. It just took us awhile to get going.”

Carl Sweet, North coach, said that when the South took a 14-7 lead, it forced him to change his game plan.

“We were forced to do some other things and unfortunately got into a throwing match with them,” Sweet said. “I thought our defense played well throughout the game. We played a strong first half and played just as hard in the second half.”