Some not happy with game

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan

Six local football players took part in the Seventh Annual Valley

Youth Conference East-West All-Star game.

Four of them had good experiences. The other two were glad

Saturday’s game finished as fast as it did.

There was a mix of emotions following the East team’s 17-7 loss at

Van Nuys Birmingham High.

Burroughs’ Cory Brownlee said he felt like he held his own against

some of the top players from elite schools, and teammates David

Brooks, T.J. McDonald and Alan West -- who will play at University of

Pennsylvania in the fall -- saw plenty of playing time in a dull, and

sometimes boring, game.

The other two area players -- John Dincher and Brian Hwang of

Burbank -- wanted to leave the Birmingham High field as soon as

possible, after all of the locals played for the East team.

Dincher felt privileged to start the game at slot receiver, but

that’s where the fun stopped. The East quarterbacks, Marcel Marquez

of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Jacob McCravey of Palmdale, didn’t get

a lot of protection from a shaky offensive live that wasn’t used to

playing with each other. As a result, both had to constantly scramble

and force bad passes.

Dincher, who said he’ll probably play football for Coach John

Cicuto at Glendale Community College in the fall, had one pass thrown

his way, and that came in the fourth quarter. He hauled in a 20-yard

pass from McCravey with less than two minutes left.

“It was the most frustrating thing I’ve gone through,” Dincher

said.

Despite not being allowed to get involved in his team’s offense,

Dincher said several good things came out of the game.

“I learned how to control myself while sitting on the sidelines,

and I learned how to be patient,” he said. “I had fun taking my

frustration out on kickoff return, though.”

Hwang didn’t play much and wasn’t in a very talkative mood

afterward.

The Burroughs’ players were happy to be able to make an impact.

“This wasn’t a big challenge for us,” said West, a defensive

lineman who had two tackles. “We play much bigger linemen [in the

Foothill League]. It was just like playing Hart or Valencia.”

Brownlee, who picked up a fumble that bounced right in front of

him and had four tackles, said the game was a good experience.

“I wanted to see if I could play with these guys at a high level,”

he said.

Brooks -- who has signed with Weber State -- finished with two

tackles.