North Runs Over the South in Second Half for Victory

With three of the county’s top running backs in his backfield, North Coach Larry Toner of Servite did the smart thing to start Friday’s 34th Annual Orange County All-Star football game . . . he told his quarterback to pass.

Although Servite quarterback Eric Hannah completed only three of 13 first-half passes as the South took a three-point lead, the North returned to convention in the second half using a strong running game to rally for a 14-3 victory in front of 7,000 at Orange Coast College.

“We were just probing the defense in the first half, just to see what we could do,” Toner said. “We knew we had great speed.”

Garden Grove’s Jim Sebreros, the offensive player of the game, showed that speed to set the tone in the second half by returning the opening kickoff 41 yards to the North 43.

Although the North didn’t score on that possession, running backs Ernie Wilson of El Modena and Brian Diaz of Anaheim made sure it capitalized on the next possession.

On a fourth and two at the South 37 with 4 minutes 52 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Diaz broke out of a pile at the line of scrimmage to gain nine yards, keeping the drive alive.

Two plays later, Wilson, who rushed for 79 yards on nine carries, came out of the backfield on a draw, and following the blocks of El Dorado’s Brett Bryant and Valencia’s Matt Estes, he sprinted 27 yards for the game’s first touchdown.

Early in the fourth quarter, it was Sebreros’ turn.

On a fourth and one at the South 47, Sebreros squirted out of a pile at the line of scrimmage, then sprinted left for a 33-yard gain.

One play later, the North called a play-action pass and Hannah found Sebreros wide open in the right flat for an eight-yard touchdown pass with 9:31 remaining, and Micah Knorr’s conversion gave the North a 14-3 lead.

“We knew Sebreros was fast, but some people said he was kind of small,” Toner said of the 5-foot-8, 170-pound running back. “But he’s just an awesome football player.”

“I think their team speed was pretty evident,” South Coach Jeff Brinkley of Newport Harbor said. “They had some guys who could run, and on defense, with guys like that, if you get out of position you’re in big trouble.”

Estancia quarterback Matt Johner tried to rally the South in the fourth quarter, completing 10 of 22 passes for 125 yards in the game.

Irvine’s Todd Thomas caught four passes for 63 yards, but on the final drive neither Thomas nor his teammates could find the end zone.

With 17 seconds remaining, on a third and goal from the three, wide receiver Bryan Gail of Fountain Valley came the closest to scoring, but caught Johner’s pass out of the end zone.

On the next play, El Dorado’s Andy Osborne sacked Johner to end the drive.

Irvine running back Scott Seal led the South rushing for 44 yards on nine carries. The South gained only 77 yards rushing on 26 carries.