South Defense Dominates North in 22-6 Victory : Prep football: North held to minus-5 yards rushing. Blanton’s 69-yard touchdown pass to Fegraus caps first half.

Somehow lost in the Billy Blanton to David Knuff advance billing for the 33rd Orange County all-star football game Friday night was the fact that the South had an outstanding defense. Just ask the North.

The North didn’t complete a pass until 6 minutes 52 seconds remained in the third quarter and was held to minus-five yards rushing in a 22-6 loss in front of 6,500 at Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium.

The South built a 15-0 lead in the first half and cruised to its fourth victory in the past five years in the series.

Blanton and Knuff, who led Mater Dei to the Southern Section Division I championship last fall, had their moments, but it was the steady play of end Kevin Pola of Santa Ana, tackle Matt Keneley and linebacker Scott von der Ahe of Mission Viejo, nose guard Ingmar Northcott of Marina and linebacker David Erikson of Dana Hills that was the difference.

“My greatest fear coming into the game was that we would be unable to run the ball against them, and that’s exactly what happened,” said North Coach Jeff Buenafe of Garden Grove. “Those big guys were a little quicker than I thought.”

The North didn’t score until 9:02 remained in the fourth quarter following Ryan Roskelly’s second interception of the game. Roskelly returned interceptions for 41 and 43 yards, or nearly double the North’s offensive production. The all-county star from Valencia was named the defensive player of the game.

“As you saw tonight, Ryan is a superior athlete,” Buenafe said. “I thought our defense played great. But we got hit with the home run (a 69-yard touchdown pass from Blanton to Laguna Beach’s Eric Fegraus) just before the half and that put us in a hole.”

Blanton, who set county records with 3,545 yards passing and 36 touchdowns last fall, was sporadic. He completed six of 16 pass attempts for 106 yards. Knuff caught three passes for 30 yards but made his presence felt more as a defensive end.

The South’s most effective weapon was Capistrano Valley running back Alan Perlas, who gained 60 yards in 10 carries and scored on a nifty 20-yard run. Perlas was a last-minute replacement for Laguna Hills back David Webber, who declined to play. He was named the offensive player of the game.

“I’m lucky my good friend (Capistrano Valley Coach) Eric Patton made that second phone call and convinced me that Allan should be on the team,” said winning Coach Bruce Rollinson of Mater Dei. “I told you guys that our strength was our running backs.”

The game also had a bit of the unusual. For openers, South kicker Nathan Morreale kicked a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter, ran over to the bench, slipped and fell and then sat out the remainder of the half with an ankle injury.

Then, there was Blanton’s attempt to tackle Roskelly after throwing an interception in which Roskelly ran over him en route to a 43-yard return.

Roskelly capped the evening by returning a fourth-quarter kickoff 54 yards, eluding three tacklers on the most exciting play of the game.