Seminole Matchup Highlights All-Stars

In less than two months, Dominic Robinson and Craphonso Thorpe will be roommates in Florida State football training camp.

Maybe then Thorpe, who is from Tallahassee, will be able to give Robinson tips about dealing with the mid-August heat and humidity of the Florida Panhandle.

But today, closer to Robinson’s home turf, they are pitted against one another in the second CaliFlorida Bowl high school all-star football game at UC Santa Barbara’s Harden Stadium at 1 p.m.

California won the inaugural game last year, 21-11.

Robinson, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback from Diamond Bar, was selected to several All-American teams after intercepting 10 passes and breaking up 20 others last season.

Thorpe, a 6-2, 185-pound wide receiver, was selected to Florida’s all-state team at the 6A level. He caught 64 passes for 1,025 yards and eight touchdowns for Tallahassee Lincoln.

“It makes for a great challenge,” Robinson said of the matchup. “He’s fast and he has a knack for making the big play.”

Thorpe, second in the 100 meters in the 4A Division of the Florida state track and field championships last month, had five receptions for 69 yards while often being covered by Robinson in a national high school all-star game in Dallas in December. But don’t expect him to talk trash about his future teammate.

“Dominic is a very talented cornerback who does things I’ve never seen a high school cornerback do,” Thorpe said. “He has the ability to shadow you more than other cornerbacks. Other high school cornerbacks try to do what he does, but they can’t.”

Robinson, who played football, basketball and baseball throughout high school, was the most valuable player in the national all-star game in December after making three tackles, intercepting two passes and knocking down two others in the West’s 18-15 victory.

He returned an interception 100 yards on a two-point conversion attempt by the East.

He and Thorpe met during the festivities preceding that game and they’ve been “clicking” ever since.

“I really can’t tell you why we get along,” Thorpe said. “But we do. It just seems like [our friendship] is one of those things that was meant to be.”

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Blue Chippers

Twenty-five of the 85 players in today’s CaliFlorida Bowl high school all-star football game have signed with or committed to programs ranked in last year’s final Associated Press Top 25. Thirteen more are headed for UCLA or USC. The list:

* Clemson (2)--David Dunham, Lake City (Fla.) Columbia, LB; Jamal Fudge, Jacksonville (Fla.) Ed White, DB.

* Florida State (7)--Chauncey Davis, Auburndale (Fla.), DL; Kyler Hall, Live Oak (Fla.) Suwannee, DB; Matt Heinz, Tallahassee (Fla.) North Florida Christian, DL; Willie Jones, Miami (Fla.) Carol City, LB; Adrian McPherson, Bradenton (Fla.) Southeast, QB; Dominic Robinson, Diamond Bar, DB/WR; Craphonso Thorpe, Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln, WR.

* Georgia (2)--Mike Gilliam, Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln, RB; Josh Snead, Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln, OL.

* Miami (2)--Robert Bergman, Bakersfield, OL; Sean Taylor, Miami (Fla.) Gulliver, DB.

* Nebraska (1)--Randy Landingham, Sonora, DB.

* Oregon (6)--Randall Bowen, Dominguez, DL; Phillip Goodman, Vallejo, WR; Justin Phinisee, Downey, WR/DB; Robby Valenzuela, Modesto Grace Davis, DL; Terrence Whitehead, Crenshaw, DB; Demetrius Williams, Concord De La Salle, WR.

* Oregon State (1)--Rodney Landingham, Sonora, DB.

* South Carolina (1)--Orus Lambert, Jacksonville (Fla.) Madarin, LB.

* UCLA (7)--Ed Blanton, Napa, OL; Marcus Cassel, St. John Bosco, DB; Matthew Clark, Cleveland, RB; Tyler Ebell, Ventura, RB; Spencer Havner, Grass Valley Nevada Union, LB; Jabril Raymo, Beverly Hills, DB; Matt Ware, Loyola, DB.

* USC (6)--David Boler, Charter Oak, DB/WR; William Buchanon, Oceanside, WR; Greig Carlson, Palisades, WR; Matt Leinart, Mater Dei, QB; Mike Patterson, Los Alamitos, DL; John Walker, Birmingham, DB.

* Washington (3)--Charles Frederick, Boca Raton (Fla.) Pope John Paul II, WR; Mike Savicky, Corona, OL; Joe Toledo, Carlsbad La Costa Canyon, TE.