Stars ready for the spotlight one last time

Kama’Re Bailey has liked what he’s seen from his North teammates this week in practice.

The recent Mariposa High graduate has switched back to his natural receiver position after playing running back in high school. Bailey racked up 1,328 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns to help the Grizzlies win a Southern League championship.

Bailey will play one last game tonight – the 30th annual North/South Rotary All-Star Football Game at Golden Valley’s Veterans Stadium before playing at College of Sequoias in the fall.

Bailey has been impressed with the talent around him.

“We’d win many games if this was a team we could take into a season,” Bailey said. “We’d go to a bowl game. There’s a lot of talent. The big thing that I like about this group is you see all the good kids from little schools. I’m not just talking about my school, but there is a lot of talent from schools like Ripon Christian and Stone Ridge (Christian). There are players from those schools that colleges don’t see.”

Pacheco coach David Snapp will use a spread offense this week, but don’t expect him to ignore his twin tanks running backs Frankie Trent of Oakdale and Justin Stefani of Buhach Colony. Both of them amassed yards and touchdowns this season.

Snapp has a two quarterbacks to lean on in Ripon Christian’s Billy Marr and Enochs’ Shawn Munoz.

The North has plenty of weapons outside with Bailey, Patterson’s Demarrio Hammonds, Merced’s Josh Taylor, Mariposa’s Jadin Battles, Pacheco’s Maurice Harden, Turlock’s Jeffrey Hines and tight ends Alec Barcellos of Los Banos and Michael Souza of Golden Valley.

“It’s been fun to see all these different athletes,” Souza said. “We’ve all come together from different schools and different backgrounds to play a sport we love. It’s been a blast. I think everyone has enjoyed being out there. The environment has been cool. The atmosphere has been cool. We’ve had fun competing with each other.”

The South has some weapons of their own in Madera quarterback Nathaniel Nelson, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown in the City/County All-Star Game last week.

The South has a big-play threat in Central receiver Tamar Johnson, who was named the County MVP after catching eight passes for 86 yards.

“Our defense has been impressive,” Souza said. “We have a lot of strong linebackers. They’re good hitters. During practices they’ve made a lot of stops when we’ve gone live with our offense against our defense.”

The North is strong up front with players like Merced’s Kenneth Hamel, Pacheco’s Josh Tui and Los Banos’ Bailey Rodriguez. The secondary is equipped with speed with players like Atwater’s Sal Duran, Buhach Colony’s Roy Gutierrez and Stone Ridge Christian’s Bailey Dahlhoff.

After three days of practice, Snapp was impressed with the attitudes of the players.

“The selflessness stood out to me,” Snapp said. “There were no egos. Nobody acted like a prima donna. I thought everyone gelled together well. I wish I could have took my team out there to learn from these guys. These are all-league players from all over the place and look at how they go about their business.”

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Stars ready for the spotlight one last time."