East Seemingly Has Brightest of Valley All-Stars

After a seven-month layoff, 74 of the region’s finest senior high school football players will take the field for one last hurrah.

More than a dozen players headed to Division I colleges on scholarship are featured in tonight’s 15th annual Daily News all-star game at Birmingham High at 6:30 p.m.

The East seems loaded on offense with Sylmar High’s Tyrone Crenshaw, San Fernando’s Leon Blunt and Hart’s Mike Kocicka.

Crenshaw, two-time City Section 4-A player of the year who is headed to Michigan State, averaged 8.3 yards a carry in three seasons and led the Spartans to a 4-A championship in 1992.

Blunt, bound for Notre Dame, ran for 803 yards and 11 touchdowns as San Fernando’s quarterback last season, but will move to wide receiver and defensive back for the East, which has Kocicka and Palmdale’s Rocque Sandoval at quarterback.

Kocicka, The Times’ Valley back of the year who’s headed to Nevada Las Vegas, threw for 32 touchdowns and ran for 11 last fall at Hart.

The West is led by quarterbacks Zack Hernandez of L.A. Baptist and Jeremie Watkins of Simi Valley. Hernandez was the Southern Section Division X player of the year after leading the Knights through an undefeated season.

Arizona-bound Jim Romero of L.A. Baptist and Washington-bound Andre DeSaussure of Taft are the featured receivers for the West.

Reseda’s Joel Schaeffer and Newbury Park’s George Hurley will coach the West, and Palmdale’s Jeff Williams and Grant’s Bill Foster head the East.