SAN JOSE – The 41st Annual Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football game will be played on its biggest stage yet when players take the field this Saturday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the newly constructed home of the San Francisco 49ers.
Another first this year will be the timing of the game, which is normally played in late July, but will be played in August for the first time since 1982.
Formerly the Silicon Valley Youth Classic, the name was changed to the Charlie Wedemeyer Memorial All-Star Game in 2010 following the death of the beloved Los Gatos football coach who battled Lou Gehrig’s disease for more than 30 years.
The game gathers some of the top graduating seniors from around the South Bay and gives them the opportunity to play one last high school football game, breaking them up into a north team and a south team. Currently, the South has the advantage in the rivalry with 20 wins to the North’s 17. There have been three ties.
Pioneer High’s Eric Perry has been chosen to be the head coach for the South squad, while Fremont of Sunnyvale’s Jake Messina will do the coaching duties for the North.
“It’s fun to coach a bunch of really talented guys and go through the process of sorting out who’s going to play where. Hopefully we have made some good decisions about that,” said Messina. “In talking to them, they’re really excited to play.”
According to Messina, Dominic Sabel of The King’s Academy will be under center for the North Squad. Curt Calomeni of Bellarmine Prep, Kyle Alves of San Jose High, and Jonathan Pohahau of Wilcox have been appointed captains.
“Its kind of weird,” said Calomeni of the experience so far. “Being out here practicing, meeting all these new guys and guys we played against.”
Other notables for the North include Aaron Tillak of Piedmont Hills and Christian Rita of Milpitas. Rita, a stellar kick returner and wide receiver, posted 1,265 all-purpose yards and 16 touchdowns his senior year. Tillak’s numbers were also impressive, with 1,885 all-purpose yards and 17 touchdowns in his final season.
For the South, Los Gatos’ Dru Brown will be the starting quarterback, and Tre McCloud of Valley Christian and Jakob Good of Westmont will share the ball carrying duties out of the backfield. In spite of the talented backfield, you can expect the ball to be in the air often, according to an earlier report by Prep2Prep’s John Murphy.
Brown will also be the leader for the South squad on the offensive side of the ball, while Willow Glen’s Josh Landers will run the ship on defense. Other key defensive players to look out for according to Perry are Branham’s Ray Ellis, Willow Glen’s Will Kaufusi, Nicolas McMurray from Mitty, and Rushawn Jones of Oak Grove.
“I think the biggest thing is are we going to be able to handle their size,” said Perry. “They’re bigger than we are. Hopefully we can out-athlete them a little bit, but I think it should be a real, solid, competitive game.”
Perry, who takes the role of head coach for the first time at Wedemeyer, has assisted multiple times in the past and played in the game himself as a graduate of Pioneer back in 1990. That year, the South blew out the North 43-3.
“It’s funny, the whole circle thing,” said Perry. “Being the head coach, I told the kids when we first called them and asked them to play, ‘Hey, this is one of those opportunities that you’re never going to forget.’”
“Being the head coach has been a lot of fun. It’s a great group of guys, so I’m excited to be coaching it and see if we can get the South a W.”
Kickoff on Saturday is at 4:30 p.m. and the game will be followed by a special 49ers night practice. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for kids ages 18 and under. To purchase tickets online, please click here.
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