Teams Hope Defensive Trend Changes in All-Star Game

The teams in the 37th county North-South all-star football game take the field tonight with one goal in mind: scoring.

Defense has dominated the games in recent times. Since 1987, a team scored more that 20 points only three times. And in the last four games, the losing team has not scored more than six points.

Both coaches--Western High’s Jim Howell for the North, and University High’s Mark Cunningham for the South--have spent the bulk of practice time seeking offense.

“Defense always comes quicker than offense. That’s against you from the start,” Howell said. “Then it’s how you try to utilize personnel. Passing is probably easier to do; the blocking is the hardest thing, getting the different schemes.”

Cunningham sees the same thing from a different side.

“One thing is always true,” he said. “When you pick the kids, and pick specifically for a defensive position, they’re well suited for it. When you pick for offense, there are so many intricate parts.

“You have to have timing, to have all parts work smoothly. The North, which leads the series 20-14-2, has won the last three games.

Two North players who figure to get several chances to carry the ball are Savanna’s Eric Shine (2,130 yards, 26 touchdowns), who led the county in scoring last season, and Anaheim’s Reuben Droughns (1,123 yards, 13 touchdowns).

“I still think running is harder,” Cunningham said. “But they have a speed advantage. If I’m in his position, with those backs, I’d run too.

“We’ve got our hands full. If either Shines and Droughns gets to the sidelines and can turn up field, they can get some serious yards. We hope we can get on the scoreboard early and take them out of their game plan.

North quarterback Dean Chambers of Western (1,572 yards, 13 touchdowns) has been a fixture among the county’s top quarterback rankings. And Orange’s Sean McCraw (1,341 yards, 15 touchdowns) played only one year as varsity quarterback but showed great promise.

Expect the South to counter with a multidimensional passing attack.

Mark Flippin, Cunningham’s offensive coordinator for this game, likes the one-back, four-receivers setup he used to help El Toro win the Division V championship. He has Fountain Valley’s Mitch Ryerson (2,149 yards, 24 touchdowns) and El Toro’s Steve Krupp, (2,457 yards, 24 touchdowns) to throw and players such as San Clemente’s Trevor Insley (64 catches, 1,086 yards, nine touchdowns) and Woodbridge’s Ricky Jenkins (41 catches, 367 yards) to catch.