Sure, he'd made a couple of tackles on special teams, but otherwise there was nothing statistically to set his performance apart from anyone else's in the 29th annual Silicon Valley Youth Classic Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football Game played at San José City College.

At least, not until the second-to-last play of the night. That's when Doug Dionne took his place all-star game history.

The North trailed 27-25 but was driving toward possible victory in the final moments of play. On third and six from the South 19, Mountain View's Sean Manson dropped back to pass. His tight spiral was hauled in at the 7-yard-line—by Dionne.

The interception came with just 5.8 seconds left to play in the game and helped the South clinch the thrilling two-point victory.

"This is the best feeling in the world!" said Dionne moments after making the game-winning catch. "Right before the play, [cornerback] T.J. Monroe said to watch the tight end. The quarterback looked left, then he threw it."

The rest, as they say, is history. And Dionne found his place in that history with the interception that sealed the South win.

"I was thinking about making an interception in this game," admitted Dionne. "It was a dream come true. I guess it came at a pretty good time."

He wasn't the only one dreaming about such things. Valley Christian's Ryan Abbott picked off a North pass and raced 72 yards for the touchdown that gave the South its margin of victory.

"This is the best time!" said Dionne after the game. "Everybody out here is a great player and a great guy."

He'd get no argument on that score from the guys on the North side of the field.

"It was awesome," said Homestead's Will Faules, a North running back. "All the guys are of a high caliber. I got a good feeling for what I'll be going through the next few years."

Los Gatos free safety Derek Tam agreed.

"The best of the best are out right here," he said. "These were the MVPs of every team."

Faules and Tam both expressed disappoint over the North loss, especially Tam who was preparing for the possibility of kicking a game-winning field goal in the final seconds.

"I was psyched," said Tam, who had booted an extra point earlier in the game. "I was hoping to put it in for the team."

Thanks to Dionne's interception, he didn't get the chance.

"You always want to win," added Tam. "But it was a close game and both teams played great. You've got to hand it to the South—they have a great team over there."

The North actually outgained the South 353-127 in total offense, but five turnovers—two of them going for touchdowns—proved costly.

Three North quarterbacks threw for a combined 265 yards in the game. Manson completed 11 of 18 passes for 135 yards, Alex Rollin of Los Gatos hit on 6 of 12 for 115 yards and Bryen Blankenship of Westmont hooked up on 1 of 3 for 15 yards. All three passers threw a pick, though.

Oregon-bound wide receiver Phil Ghilarducci of Gunn was the receiving star with 10 catches for 186 yards. J.P. Bellotti of St. Francis had three grabs for 23 yards, Chris Orozco of Leigh two for 11, Chris Fultcher of Wilcox one for 18, Thomas DeLash of Leigh one for 17 and Jesse Enchill of Fremont one for 10.

DeLash was the rushing leader for the North with 32 yards on nine carries. Dennis Freeman of Los Gatos carried just twice but rambled for 23 yards. Faules had 13 yards on two tries.

John Allen of Los Gatos, Vince Juarez of Palo Alto, Chris Galvez and Byron Face of Leigh, and Andrew Ravadge of Cupertino led the charge up front in the offensive line most of the night.

Travis Howell of Los Gatos must have considered it just another game because the inside linebacker put up regular season numbers in leading all tacklers for the North. Howell was in on an impressive 12 tackles to top the North. Tolu Wusu of Palo Alto was next in line with seven stops and Anthony Barrow of Mitty had five.

Robert Jennings of Westmont and Shawn Lepisi of Milpitas got in on four tackles apiece. Ben Reynolds of Cupertino, Andrew O'Gorman of Los Gatos and Josh Rodriguez of Mitty finished with three each and all were in on quarterback sacks. Reynolds led the sack attack with two.

Chris Bencomo of Lynbrook, Austin Baumgarten and Ivan Biondic of Prospect, Mohammed Zahriya of Leigh, Ramont Thomas of Homestead and Chris Davis of Harker were also in on tackles for the North.

Anthony Reyes of Silver Creek was the offensive leader for the South in the win. He ran for 35 yards on seven carries, caught a pass for 13 yards and completed a pass for 21 yards.

The South scored first in the game when Alan Webster of Overfelt ran one in from the 9. An interception by Nick Zimmer of Oak Grove set up the TD.

The North answered right back, though. A couple of Rollin passes to Ghilarducci for 38 yards set up an 18-yard scoring pass from Rollin to Fultcher. Tam's extra point made it 7-6 with 4:47 left in the first period.

DeLash blasted over from the 2-yard-line to up the score to 13-6 for the North, and that lead stood up at the half.

Blankenship took over at quarterback for the North in the second half and got off to a good start. He hit Bellotti for 15 yards, then scrambled for seven yards to the South 28. But on his next aerial attempt Abbott shot through to bat the pass in the air, then intercept it and race 57 yards for a touchdown. Dustin Long of Silver Creek hit Reyes for the 2-point conversion, and the South led 14-13.

The North stalled on its next possession and Tam dropped back into punt formation. But a high snap forced him to run with the football, and he raced for a key first down.

Rollin tossed 17 yards to DeLash and 31 yards to Ghilarducci before Orozco followed Allen over the left side for the final yard and a touchdown.

An 11-yard TD toss from Long to Guy Bingham of Piedmont Hills put the South back on top 20-19. Tam intercepted the pass for the attempted 2-point conversion.

The North came out passing after the kickoff with Manson tossing to Enchill for 10 yards, but Alesanan Ulu of Independence stole the ball and raced 20 yards for a score. Valley Christian's Casey Bronzovic kicked the extra point, and the South led 27-19 with 11:44 to play.

Once more the North fought back, this time on a 28-yard scoring toss from Manson to Ghilarducci. But the final drive came up short for the North when Dionne came through with the clutch interception.