Manoukian gives up all-star spot
Various local players prepare for July 25 summer classic
By Dick Sparrer
Matt Manoukian is an all-star caliber football player.
But the outstanding defensive lineman from St. Francis won't be on the field for the North team in the 27th annual Silicon Valley Youth Classic Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football Game on July 25.
Thanks to his selfless efforts, though, someone else will be.
Manoukian was a definite all-star selection after winning all-league honors in the West Catholic Athletic League and earning an honorable mention berth on the All-Bay Area team.
But after an untimely bout of strep throat led to a case of mononucleosis, he eventually had to have his tonsils removed in April.
His illness led the following letter to the game's sponsor, the Almaden Valley Rotary Club:
"I was deeply honored and very excited when I was notified of my selection to play in the Silicon Valley Youth Classic Football Game. Football has always been my passion and I have enjoyed playing football at St. Francis for the past four years."
He went on to say, however, he added, "I am not able to engage in contact sports for a period of time and I do not feel that I would be in top shape and able to fully participate in the football game on July 25. I believe that it is important to give another football player this wonderful opportunity."
Because of Manoukian's unselfish act, the selection committee could allow another football player to enjoy the all-star experience when the North meets the South at 7:30 p.m. on July 25 at Independence High School in east San Jose.
And what an experience it is. Nearly 2,500 high school football players have participated in "The Best Game in Town."
The game has featured over a dozen players (Doug Cosbie, Don Schwartz, Jeff Toews, Rich Campbell, Carl Monroe, Greg Woodard, John Tuggle, Ben Bennett, John Faylor, Erik Howard, Randy Kirk, Tim Ryan and Pat Tillman) who have gone on to the NFL, and a couple more (Ken Caminiti and Bill Haselman) who have gone on to play major league baseball.
Countless players have gone on to succeed at the college level with a number of them playing in major bowl games, and many players have gone on to become successful football coaches.
One, Millard Hampton, even went on to strike Olympic gold.
"The great thing about this game is that there are no politics involved," said game chairman Jim Guido of the Almaden Rotary Club. "This game is for the kids."
One local "kid" who will play in the summer classic this year is Fremont's Jorge O'Connor. The two-way tackle was the most valuable lineman for the Firebirds last fall.
Former local stars to participate in the summer classic include:
Sunnyvale
1978--Tim Thompson, John Ane, Don Thompson; 1979-- Bob Scheibley; 1980--Brian Schaeffer, George Fletcher.Peterson
1975--Mike Nash; 1976-- Bob Duran; 1978--James Lavery, Darren Nill; 1979-- Scott Campbell, Steve Nill, Kelly Pollock, Arni Thorsteinsson; 1980--Ben Bennett, Mel Cozby, Bill McAfee, Ed Smith; 1981-- Rodger Johnson.Fremont
1975--Rick Armer, Keith Burcham, Dave Geppert, Steve Brown, Kevin Johnson; 1978-- Rainy Meszaros, Steve Zankich; 1979--Sander Markel, Greg Hooper, Greg Reiley, Mike Shriner; 1980-- Phil Graham; 1981--Ramon Barron, Terry Theodore, Todd Barraclough; 1982--Mitch Mariani; 1983--Karl Castles, Doug Rothschild, Darrin Crawford, Vincent Brigman, Don Shearon; 1984--Ulysses Vee; 1985--Ricky Samuelu; 1986--Kini Tufono, Dan Savage; 1987--Brian Theodore, Frank Bellucci; 1988--Steve Savage, Phil Davis, Stephen Robinson; 1989--Rich Bellucci, Daryl Sadowski, Jeff Chinn, Tim Wadholm; 1990--George Ulukivaiola, Scott Savage; 1991--Willie Harper, Manvir Sandhu, Tom Mendoza; 1992--Greg Perry, Andy Walczak, Jason Simontacchi; 1993--Jabari Snowden, Jeff Neal; 1995--Dennis Truong; 1996--Tom Jimenez; 1997-- Art Alegria; 1998-- Tully Banta-Cain, Justin Stichter, Steven Leslie, Warren Rick.
Homestead
1975-- Jim Caldwell; 1976-- Jim Berglund; 1978--William Pence, Jerry Brooks, Dave Mariner; 1979--Daniel Cordova; 1980--Joe Walker; 1981--Todd Dal Porto, Dave Johnson, Mike Pestana; 1982--Matt Delenikos, Mike Marengo; 1983--Fred Lewis, Jeff Lamson; 1984--Chris Vanni; 1985-- Paul Marcy, David Williams; 1986--Daryl Johnson, Scott Erickson; 1987-- Ed Devlin; 1988-- Jim-Jim Grimes, Paul Maytorena; 1989--Jeff Field, Chris Tiernan; 1990-- David Vieiler, Eteka Huckaby, Craig Smalley; 1991--Tim Malatesta; 1992--Kevin Kumagai, Jason Hilker, Kenneth Crawford; 1993-- Michael Kenney; 1994--Clint Tada, Terrell Jones, Andy Holland; 1995--Pete Holland, Jason Tenner; 1996--Jeremie Braun, Leo Fisher; 1997--Andrew Delgado, Ben Amiwero, Tony Elam, Bo Gerth, David Atchison, Mark Glennon; 1998-- Chris Brooker, Matt Kenney; 1999--Trumaine Green, Ben Mika.
Cupertino
1976-- Bob Ignaitus, Rick Napolitan, Dean Natwick; 1978-- Pete Calderon, Steve Finley; 1979-- Tim Small; 1980-- John Puzar; 1981-- Kevin Dipko; 1982--Scott Steiner, Craig Hillesland; 1983-- Kurt Cottrell; 1984-- Andrew Scarborough, Steve Carlozzi, Erik Johnson, Mike Mercer; 1985--Steve Dipko, Andrew Guidero, Chis Linder; 1986--Joe Marinello; 1987-- Mark Longshore; 1989-- Steve Peters; 1990-- Ja Fau DeLane; 1991--Deron Thorp; 1992--Ken Kronquist; 1994-- Joshua Deale, Keith Blanchard; 1995-- Rene Bard; 1996--Dan Donahue; 1997-- David Jackson; 1998-- Bernardo Zeballos; 1999-- Mitch Andrade, John Ho.
Monta Vista
1975--Bob Gilson; 1976--George Ripley; 1978--Scott Coen, Maverick Tufuli, Tom Lloyd; 1979--Leonard Marchese, Jim Cleary; 1980-- Mike Sansone, Chris Hampton; 1981--Troy Carlson, Bill Beadling, Bill Pearson; 1982--Sean Casey, Phillip Levy, Blake Ross, Beau Rahn; 1983--Tom Smith; 1984--John Pressley, John Miller; 1985--Chris Valenzuela, Bret Erickson; 1986--Mike Powers, Jeffery Sturdivant, Mark Stokes; 1987-- Mark Jackman, Sean Robinson, Dave Ludwig; 1988--Eric Davidson; 1989-- Tim Gilbert, Tom Buckley; 1990--Ryan Hancock, Clay Reis; 1991--Jason DeAnda; 1992--Matt Quadro; 1993-- Kelly Edwards, Ross Touli, Bryan Clark; 1994--David Lee; 1995-- Michael Jenkins, Dave Mowrer; 1997--Mike McNeil, Chad Purcell, Adam Peters; 1999--Ryan Mitchell, Brian Laatsch.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
