Thomas Stays Out, Putting Palmer in Starting Lineup

Ed Burke, Torrey Pines High coach who is serving as coach of the California team in the 47th annual Shrine All-Star Football Classic, was in high spirits during practice Thursday at Rancho Capistrano Conference Center.

Burke raced a manager to retrieve loose footballs, jumped into the backfield during a play to help pick up a blitz and displayed a cheery and relaxed attitude.

Burke’s tone grew serious when he was asked what sort of quarterback rotation California will utilize today against a team of Texas all-stars.

“Right now I don’t plan to balance the playing time; Carson Palmer is our quarterback,” Burke said of the USC recruit from Santa Margarita High.

Asked what that meant for Jason Thomas of Compton Dominguez, another Trojan recruit who also plays quarterback, Burke shook his head.

“You didn’t see Jason Thomas out here this morning and because of that he’s unbalanced the scale,” Burke said. “He’s in bed sick with tireditis and I have no doubt he’s been out after curfew since he’s been here.”

Asked how players could break curfew when they are not allowed to have cars at at the secluded conference center, Burke laughed.

“They don’t have cars, but their friends do,” he said.

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Both teams spent much of the week living and practicing at Rancho Capistrano, a lush resort featuring mission-style architecture.

The players’ rooms were in two-story buildings that looked out of an expansive grass courtyard, but Justin Fargas of Notre Dame said the setting left something to be desired.

“It’s nice and all that but they haven’t got any televisions or phones,” Fargas said.

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Bright yellow signs posted at Rancho Capistrano warned visitors to “beware of snakes”, but Texas players and coaches tromped heedlessly through brush and undergrowth on their way to the practice field.

Asked if he had seen any snakes, Stan Higgins, Shrine training camp coordinator, shook his head.

“No snakes yet, but then it took me two days to see the signs, so I’m probably not the right person to ask,” Higgins said.

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Joey Cuppari, the wide receiver from Westlake who was selected to play in the Shrine game, is out after recent emergency surgery for a burst appendix.

His absence leaves Fargas as the only representative from the region.

Shrine officials replaced Cuppari with linebacker Anthony Daye of Laguna Hills but Cuppari said he will be on the California sideline for the game and will receive a team jersey.

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The Shrine All-Star game was first played in 1952 with a Northern California vs. Southern California format. The Texas-California format was adopted in 1995, when California won, 6-0. California won in 1996, 27-12, and last year, 31-6.

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Among the college destinations of players involved in the game, UCLA leads with 10 recruits, nine from California and Steve Morgan of Dallas Skyline High.

USC has seven recruits, all Californians, Texas has six, Colorado has five and Michigan and Notre Dame have three each.

Just the Facts

* What: 47th Shrine All-Star Football Classic

* When: Today, 5 p.m.

* Where: Falcon Field, Cerritos College, Norwalk

* TV: Fox Sports West

Shrine Game Rosters

CALIFORNIA

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No. Player, High School Pos. Ht. Wt. College 1 Frank Strong, Stockton Franklin RB-DB 6-1 205 USC 5 Justin Fargas, Notre Dame RB 6-1 195 Michigan 6 Sultan McCullough, Muir RB 5-11 175 USC 7 Anthony Kelley, Muir TE 6-3 215 Washington 8 Robert Thomas, Imperial LB 6-2 235 UCLA 9 Roger Ratliff, Oakland Skyline FB-LB 5-11 205 San Jose St. 11 Eugene Childs, Westchester WR 6-2 185 BYU 13 Hayden Epstein, Torrey Pines PK 6-1 195 Michigan 15 Carson Palmer, Santa Margarita QB 6-4 215 USC 16 Steve Parker, Bishop O’Dowd QB 6-5 205 Northwestern 17 Jason Thomas, Dominguez QB 6-5 225 USC 20 Herman Ho-Ching, Long Beach Poly LB-RB 6-0 205 Oregon 22 Andy Peeke, Peninsula FB-LB 6-1 200 Colorado 24 Adam Geitner, Torrey Pines LB-ATH 6-1 215 UCLA 25 Jashon Sykes, Gardena Serra LB 6-3 218 Colorado 26 DeShaun Foster, Tustin RB 6-2 210 UCLA 28 Andrae Perry, Fontana DB 5-10 190 Washington 30 Joey Boese, Mater Dei DB 5-11 170 Wisconsin 31 Donte Stallworth, Scrmnto Grant WR-DB 6-2 195 Tennessee 32 Audie Attar, Claremont DB 6-1 195 UCLA 33 Anthony Daye, Laguna Hills LB 6-2 235 USC 34 Joe Hunter, Vacaville DB 6-1 180 UCLA 36 Chris Cash, Stockton Franklin DB 5-10 165 Colorado 44 Rusty Williams, Vista DL 6-6 245 UCLA 48 Jermaine Brooks, Rncho Cmnga DL 6-3 265 Arkansas 64 Robert Richardson, San Clemente C 6-3 245 Villanova 65 Aaron Higginbotham, Yucaipa OL 6-6 300 Arizona 66 Scott Huber, Peninsula OL-DL 6-4 250 USC 67 Ken Kocher, Patrick Henry DL 6-3 285 UCLA 68 Raul Gomez, Oceanside OL 6-3 275 San Diego St. 69 Zach Wilson, Mayfair OL 6-5 275 USC 75 Elliot Zajac, Bakersfield OL 6-4 295 Washington 76 Blake Worley, Capistrano Valley OL 6-7 295 UCLA 77 Anthony Fletcher, San Dimas DL 6-4 280 UCLA 78 Greg Schindler, Live Oak OL 6-6 300 Stanford 82 John Minardi, Santa Margarita WR-DB 6-3 190 Colorado 88 Joey Cuppari, Westlake WR 6-0 175 Colorado St.

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Coach: Ed Burke, Torrey Pines High

Assistant Coaches: Scott Ashby, Charles Doerrer, Tim Staycer, Torrey Pines

Trainer: Josh Mihalinec, Torrey Pines

TEXAS

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No. Player, High School Pos. Ht. Wt. 2 Montrell Lowe, LaPorte RB-DB 5-8 180 3 David Givens, Humble WR 6-1 220 4 Terran Williams, Cypress Falls WR 5-11 170 5 Jessie Hunnicutt, Canyon ATH 6-4 218 6 Zac Colvin, Robert E. Lee QB 6-5 205 9 Vance Smith, Fort Worth Christian QB 6-5 230 11 Montrell Flowers, Dallas Skyline WR 5-10 175 15 Marcus Wilkins, Westwood LB 6-2 215 16 Randy Davis, Dallas Skyline ATH 5-9 165 18 George Anderson, LaPorte LB 6-2 225 22 Victor Ike, Bowie RB 5-11 190 26 Joey Biasatti, Burleson K-P 6-0 185 28 Sterling Rogers, Cypress Falls DB-LB 6-0 195 29 Jason White, Nimitz DB 6-0 180 35 Evan Coleman, Elsik RB 6-1 260 36 Sedric Brown, Victoria RB 6-2 235 37 Clifford Jefferson, Dallas Carter DB 5-11 175 41 Chris Campbell, Mt. Pleasant LB 6-2 220 43 Terrence Robinson, John Tyler LB 6-2 218 50 Jerry Evans, Ball DE 6-2 253 53 Joel Harris, Angleton DL 6-3 285 55 Steve Morgan, Dallas Skyline DL 6-4 295 56 Kevin Sijansky, Katy OL 6-3 265 58 Kevin Stevenson, Abilene Cooper DL 6-1 250 60 Everett Fraser, Abilene Cooper OL 6-6 295 62 Ryan Pontbriand, Clements C 6-2 255 63 Demond Benford, Killeen DE 6-3 245 64 Kevin Emanuel, Waco DE 6-5 245 71 Beau Baker, Clear Lake OL 6-5 260 72 Eric Heitmann, Katy OL 6-5 285 75 Jordan Black, Dallas Christian OL 6-7 315 76 Tim Hodges, East Chambers OL 6-8 295 83 Patrick Hughes, Nacogdoches TE 6-4 245 84 L. David Hurst, McNeil TE 6-3 230 89 Jermain Anderson, Texas City LB 6-3 220

No. College 2 Purdue 3 Notre Dame 4 Texas Christian 5 Texas A&M; 6 Colorado 9 Texas A&M; 11 Texas 15 Texas 16 Baylor 18 No. Carolina St. 22 Texas 26 Texas Christian 28 SW Texas 29 Stanford 35 Michigan 36 Purdue 37 Notre Dame 41 Miami 43 Oklahoma St. 50 So. Methodist 53 Colorado 55 UCLA 56 Mississippi St. 58 Baylor 60 Baylor 62 Rice 63 Kansas 64 Florida State 71 Texas 72 Stanford 75 Notre Dame 76 Tennessee 83 Florida State 84 Kansas 89 Texas

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Coach: Randy Rodgers

Assistant Coaches: Robert Walker, Killeen Ellison High; Randy Quisenberry, Odessa High; Marty Criswell, Bryan High

Trainer: Laura Ibarra, Katy High