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Thursday, August 07, 2008

North Takes One in All-Star Series

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
       The North, with Manzano High coach Aaron Ocampo at the helm, defeated the South 27-14 in the Class 4A-5A All-Star Football Game at University Stadium on Friday night.
    The South had won 11 of the previous 15 all-star games prior to Friday.
    "We only played our (all-star) kids on one side of the ball," Ocampo said. "We knew it was going to be hot out there. They got tired."
    Ocampo's North roster included recently graduated players from his 2007 Manzano squad: Sandia Park's Matt Raymer and Jesse Paulsen and Albuquerque's Jeremy Lasusky.
    "It was great to have those three players with me," Ocampo said. "They're great kids. Jeremy knew our offense. He'd tell them what to do. He was like another coach out there."
    Lasusky said he will attend Central New Mexico Community College.
    "It was great coaching," said Lasusky, the North's center. "Coach Ocampo also was the offensive-line coach."
    For some, the game's most notable feature was the way the North offense dominated the South. The North had 364 total yards to the South's 167.
    Others might remember the brouhaha that broke out after the North's failed field-goal attempt with 1:34 remaining in the fourth quarter.
    Manzano fans, however, might just consider Raymer's interception of a pass from South quarterback Alberto Caballero with 10:27 to go in the third period as the high point. The pick, with the North holding a 21-7 lead, came on the play after the South had stopped a North drive for the first time in the game.
    "I just jumped in front of it," said Raymer, who will try to walk on at the University of New Mexico. "We really were the best-coached team."
    Paulsen broke up a Caballero pass from the South 13 in the fourth. The South, in its final drive of the contest, eventually turned the ball over on downs at its own 16.
    "I just saw it," said Paulsen, who also indicated he will attempt to walk on at UNM. "Their quarterback wasn't doing anything. It was a blast."
    Moriarty's Jason Watrin also played for the North. He recovered North QB Jon Mader's fumble on the North 34 on the last play of the first quarter, and the North eventually scored on the drive early in the second quarter for a 14-0 advantage.
    "I think most of the guys on the line outweighed me by a hundred pounds," said Watrin, who will pursue a business degree at Northern Colorado. "I was pretty small compared to them. But it was great to get to play in the game. Not very many Moriarty players have gotten this chance in the past."
    Pinto Ben Gonzales wasn't academically eligible to play on Friday. But he said Tuesday that he has now graduated and will play baseball at either UNM or New Mexico Junior College.
    Hoops All-Stars
    Estancia High's David Ortiz and R.J. Rice played in the Class 1A-2A Boys All-Star Basketball Game at UNM's Pit on July 31.
    The graduates, whose South team fell to the North 65-61, didn't get a lot of minutes. Ortiz was 0-for-4, including one 3-point attempt, and he grabbed four rebounds and had two assists and one foul.
    "It was fun though, and it was a good experience," Ortiz said. "It was good to play basketball again. I hadn't played in a while. And I am going to try to walk on (at Eastern New Mexico University with Rice). I'm just going to do everything I can to play. I'm anxious to try and see if I can make it."
    Rice was 0-for-1 from the floor, 0-2 from the line and got three rebounds.
    "We didn't get our legs," Rice said. "But we were glad to be on the team. We'll get our shot at Eastern."
    Former EHS coach Mike Trujillo drove down from his new post at Clayton to watch his former players.
    "I was proud of them," Trujillo said. "It was an honor for me to have two players here and to have them finish their high school careers in an all-star game."
    Albuquerque Journal staff writer James Staley contributed to this report.