O.C. Linemen Shine--for a Few Minutes : Football: David Cuttrell and Lawson Mollica help clear the way for the South’s 91-yard, second-half scoring drive.

To run or not to run, that was the question in the South locker room at halftime of Saturday’s Shrine all-star game.

The offensive linemen? Well, they wanted to keep the ball on the ground.

End of debate.

What followed was one of the few bright moments for the South, which lost to the North, 19-14, in the Rose Bowl. For 4 minutes 56 seconds, the South offense played as well as any high school all-star unit can play.

Running backs Samita Vaoifi, Ron Rivers and Chris Alexander burrowed behind the right side of the offensive line, looking for holes. David Cuttrell of El Toro and Edison’s Lawson Mollica supplied them.

The result was an eight-play, 91-yard scoring drive at the start the second half that gave the South a 14-13 lead--a lead it held until the final 52 seconds.

The drive ended in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Jack Manu to Jason Green, but the rest of the yards--74 in all--were picked up behind Cuttrell, the right guard, and Mollica, the right tackle.

“That’s the type of football linemen like,” said Mollica, who will attend Pittsburgh this fall. “Even (tight end) Jason Green got into it. He was the best double-team blocker I’ve ever worked with. I would stand the defensive guy up and Jason would take him out.”

Vaoifi was the main beneficiary of the offensive line’s domination. Vaoifi, a graduate of Fontana High, started the drive with a 13-yard run and had 47 yards in four carries during the march.

The 74 yards rushing were 14 more than the South gained rushing in the entire first half.

“We were throwing the ball too much in the first half,” said Cuttrell, who will attend Oregon this fall. “Anybody can pass-block. It’s run-blocking that makes the lineman. We showed everyone that on that drive.”

The South switched to a full-house backfield and used two tight ends at the start of the third quarter, a radical departure from the first half. The South had used a variety of formations in the first half, sometimes involving three wide receivers.

The change was due in part to the linemen, who insisted they could dominate in the second half.

“The running backs were on our side too,” Cuttrell said. “We went out there and did our job. We opened the holes and the backs executed. The North looked like they were on skates. They didn’t want any part of what we had going.”

This was the second all-star game for Cuttrell and Mollica this summer. They played side by side for the South in the Orange County all-star game.

The South won that game, 22-9.

“We passed too much in that one,” Cuttrell said. “But playing with Lawson is great. He’s a fun guy, but a little crazy. Of course, he says the same thing about me.”

Unfortunately for the South, the Cuttrell-Mollica connection was good for only one series. The North adjusted after the touchdown drive and held the South to 44 yards rushing in the final 1 1/2 quarters.

“They started slanting to our side more, which took the running game away from us,” Mollica said. “But that one drive was beautiful. That was football.”