Boller Tops Area Players in Shrine Game

Ten players bound for UCLA and eight players set to attend USC have been selected to play for the California team that will meet Texas in the Shrine All-Star football game June 26 at Cerritos College.

Coach Mike Herrington of Hart High will direct the California team that features four players from the region--quarterback Kyle Boller and receiver Jerry Owens of Hart, tight end Mike Seidman of Westlake and linebacker Anthony Foli of Newbury Park.

The selection of Boller and Chris Lewis of Long Beach Poly brings together two quarterbacks who figure to be rivals next fall in the Bay Area, with Boller headed to California and Lewis to Stanford.

But Herrington pointed out that the two became friends during the recruiting process and will share quarterback duties equally in the Shrine game.

“I think they’re excited playing together,” Herrington said. “Then they’ll be big rivals in the Big Game.”

Herrington said he will use Hart’s run-and-shoot offense, adding a tight end to the formation to take advantage of Seidman, an All-American who will attend UCLA.

The Shrine game is usually played in July, but it was moved to late June to help increase participation of the top high school players in Texas.

Sixteen of the Texas players will attend either Texas or Texas A&M.; Randy Rodgers, a former recruiting coordinator for Texas and Illinois, will coach the team.

“They supposedly have their top players this year and since we’re 3-0, the pressure is really on,” Herrington said.

Owens, who broke his leg in Hart’s final regular-season game, has begun light workouts and should be ready to play this summer.