HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : New Team and New Stadium Bring New Hope for Shrine

The 44th Shrine All-Star high school football game tonight has a new format and location in an attempt to combat declining interest.

A team of California all-stars will play many of Texas’ best in a departure from the traditional format of Southern California versus Northern California teams.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton, the fourth site in four years.

“Bringing in Texas players is a way we felt we could spurn interest in our game,” said Nate Grosher, the event’s managing director. “There was a lot of logistics involved in this setup, but we think it is a worthy gamble.”

Other all-star games match states against each other, but this is the first for California.

Each team has 35 players, nearly all of whom have have received Division I-A scholarships. Seven California players are headed to USC and five to UCLA.

California is headed by Daylon McCutcheon of La Puente Bishop Amat, The Times’ player of the year who is expected to start in the defensive backfield.

California will be coached by Bruce Rollinson of Santa Ana Mater Dei and Texas by Ray Overton of Irving MacArthur.