Cody Going learned something while practicing for the Orange County North-South All-Star Classic all-star football game.
Which is, those San Clemente guys are actually OK.
“Most of my teammates used to be my rivals,” said Going, an offensive lineman at Mission Viejo. “A San Clemente tackle (Colin Brophy) is on our team. There’s a lot of rivalry there.”
The Mission Viejo-San Clemente rivalry is one of the better ones in Orange County. A Mission Viejo-San Clemente football game usually decides the South Coast League championship.
Going and Brophy, both All-South Coast League selections this past season, are South teammates for the all-star game that will be played Saturday at Newport Harbor High at 7 p.m.
Advance tickets are available for $15 at NorthSouthGame.org and will be on sale for $20 at the game where gates open at 6 p.m.
The South has won the past seven games, including a 30-17 victory last year, and leads the series 33-26-3.
The game for many years was a summer game organized and managed by the Brea Lions Club. The nonprofit Costa Mesa United group has been in charge of the game in recent years.
Rick Feldman of Cypress is the North coach. Newport Harbor’s Peter Lofthouse is the South Coach.
The quality of players in the all-star game has improved since the game moved to winter. An example is the group of quarterbacks on the rosters for this year’s game: Crestview League offensive player of the year Reyn Beal of Yorba Linda and North Hills League offensive player of the year Christian Lundsberg of Canyon for the North; Sunset League back of the year Parker Awad of Edison, All-Sunset League first-team selection Colton Joseph of Newport Harbor and All-South Coast League first-team pick Trey Kukuk of Capistrano Valley for the South.
Going, who carries a 4.5 grade-point average, said the practices have been entertaining and challenging as players vie for starting positions and playing time.
“We’re having a blast,” said Going, who signed a letter of intent with University of San Diego on Wednesday. “The practices have been very competitive. Guys are out there, chirping off. We’ve had a great three weeks of practices and we’ve really come together as a unit.”
It’s not like national unity has been achieved. But it’s Mission Viejo and San Clemente football players getting along, which is a good start.
NOTES
• The Terry Donahue Memorial California Showcase, a free one-day skills combine that in its nine previous years has led to almost $40 million in scholarships and financial aid, will be held at Great Park in Irvine on Feb. 11. It is an excellent opportunity for high school football players to display their skills before a cadre of Division II, Division III and NAIA college coaches and local community college coaches. Go to CAshowcase.org to sign up and for more information. …
• Girls flag football would become a CIF-sanctioned sport if the CIF State Federated Council approves, as expected, a proposal to make it so this weekend. …
• CIF Southern Section boys and girls soccer playoffs brackets will be released Saturday at 10 a.m. and the pairings will be available online on the OCVarsity pages. Division 1 for boys and girls soccer will have a 16-team bracket. Divisions 2-7 will have 32-team brackets. …
• Girls soccer playoffs begin with wild card-round games Monday, Feb. 6 and first-round games Wednesday, Feb. 8. Boys soccer playoffs begin with wild card games Tuesday, Feb. 7 and first-round games Feb. 9. …
• San Clemente junior soccer player Jake Poole scored goals in five consecutive games, including both goals of a 2-2 tie in a South Coast League game against league champion Aliso Niguel …
• JSerra’s girls basketball players have an abundance of fortitude. A coaching change and the departure of top players via transfer damaged the Lions’ chances, and they have lost all of their Trinity League games by an average margin of 70 points including a 101-1 loss to Mater Dei. The JSerra players who continue to show up every day for practices and games lead the county in character and commitment. …
• By the way, no way is Mater Dei girls basketball coach Kevin Kiernan or any Trinity League coach running up scores. Take it from this ex-scrub that the 12th player on a 12-team roster is not going to pass up a layup to chuck the ball up into the scoreboard. …
• Mater Dei’s girls basketball team might be as deep as any of that Kiernan has coached since he got to the school in 2008. That team has everything, including a stalwart post player in 6-3 junior Jenessa Cotton, a quick point guard in senior Caia Elisaldez, plenty of shooters, including sophomores Addie Deal and Amaya Williams. Freshman forward Kaeli Wynn already plays a lot like her mother, former Long Beach State and Washington coach Jody Wynn, who was the Orange County player of the year in the early 1990s as Jody Anton at Brea Olinda. …
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• Mater Dei will be the only O.C. team of the eight teams in the CIF-SS Open Division for girls basketball when the boys and girls basketball playoffs brackets are released Sunday at noon. The girls favorite will be Sierra Canyon, which was 25-0 going into its game Thursday against Marlborough. …
• Rosary, which played very well at times Wednesday in its 62-57 loss to Mater Dei, could be the team to beat in girls Division 1. Royals sophomore Mya Barnes is a multi-skilled player and junior Allison Clarke is an outstanding all-around scorer. …
• All CIF-SS boys and girls basketball Open Division teams automatically qualify for the CIF Southern California Regional, as do all CIF-SS divisional champions. …
• Orange County athletic directors soon will begin formulating proposals for new league configurations for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. Athletic directors will have a casual meeting Wednesday to hash out general ideas, including the possible creation of football-only leagues.
