Rosters for the 49th Lions All-Star Football Game have been announced, and five local players have been named to the squad.
Turlock High’s Time Sitala Jr. and Dylan Fontes, Hughson’s Malakai Sumter and Travis Harkrader, and Hilmar’s Caden Bailey have been invited to play for the South all-stars in the summer classic, slated for June 21 at Tracy High’s Wayne Schneider Stadium.
The 49th edition will be hard-pressed to top the 48th, which ended with Los Banos quarterback David Herrera hitting Central Catholic’s Trace Hernandez in the back of the end zone with four seconds to play for an 18-15 victory. The North stars rallied from a 12-0 deficit entering the fourth quarter to take a 15-12 lead. It was the second last-second win by the South in three years and also made it five wins in the last six games for the South.
The North leads in the series, 26-19-2.
Turlock High graduate Jeremy Plaa, who has coached Downey High since 2007, will guide the South stars for the third time in his career. His first time coaching the all-stars was in 2003 when he was the head coach at Gustine. He coached them again in 2015.
“I serve on the Lions committee and I try to help out by creating a social media presence for the game,” said Plaa. “Most of the players, when we’ve told them they’ve been selected, ask ‘What’s the Lions All-Star Game?’ So, we’ve tried to increase the game’s profile on social media, and it’s been my pleasure to help out. We want to make sure the game stays strong.”
Practices for the game will start June 16, at Downey High School, and members of the Lions Club will prepare meals for the all-stars after each of the five practices leading up the game.
Plaa’s team at Downey won a Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 playoff game over Edison (Stockton) and then lost to eventual champ Folsom in the quarterfinals, 68-28. The 28 points the Knights scored in that game was tied for the most scored against the eventual-champion Bulldogs all season.
Plaa has gone 132-62 in 18 seasons at Downey and before that was head coach for three years at Gustine and for two years at Delhi.
St. Mary’s Tony Franks, one of the winningest coaches in Sac-Joaquin Section history (234-80-2), will be the head coach of the North team this year.
The event, which matches top graduated high school football players primarily from the Stockton area against those primarily from the Modesto area, is going into its third year after it was not held for three years due to the COVID pandemic. It has been played at Lincoln High in Stockton (2019), Tracy (2013-2018, 2023-24), Modesto Junior College (2012) and at University of the Pacific’s Memorial Stadium.
Tickets can be purchased for $15 through GoFan.com.
