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By Dick Sparrer It all started in the summer of 1974. Members of the Almaden Valley Rotary Club approached the San Jose Police Activities League with the idea that the two organizations combine their efforts to present a high school all-star football game. The idea seemed like a good one, and on Aug. 8, 1974, the finest high school football players from the '74 graduating class got together for the first game of its kind, played that summer at San Jose State University's Spartan Stadium. More than 2 1/2 decades later, the game is still gong strong. And the 28th annual event, now called the Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football Game and Silicon Valley Youth Classic, will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on July 24 at San Jose City College. The game has featured such National Football League stars as Jeff Garcia of the San Francisco 49ers, Doug Cosbie of the Dallas Cowboys, Jeff Toews of the Miami Dolphins, John Tuggle and Erik Howard of the New York Giants, Pat Tillman of the Arizona Cardinals and more. Local stars set to play in this year's edition of the all-star classic include Kevin Alger, Richard Faiva, James Rozzi and Kevin Shull of Bellarmine; and Christian Barajas, James Dunne, Jacob French, Matt Mallon and Jeff Worrell of Pioneer. Former local stars who participated in the summer classic include: Willow Glen 1976Mitch Bigger, Carl Roth; 1982Steve Malik, Doug Ito; 1983Bill Chavarria, Bret Gedryn, Chris Thomas; 1984John Foster, Jeff Knopf, Fred Houston; 1985David Williams; 1986Rigo Gutierrez, Terry Fine; 1987Scott Benning, Javier Gutierrez; 1988Andy Brinck; 1989Dave Miller; 1992Curtis Given; 1993 Josh Ledger, Scott Hernandez; 1994Jose Martinez; 1995 Mike Burse, David Duran, Dean Vinson; 1996 Bryan Navarrette; 1997Tim Hare; 1998 Shaun Thompson; 1999John Fernandez, Cory Hare; 2000David Macchi, Ben D'Antonio, Travis Murdock; 2001Gabe Candelaria. Pioneer 1974Randy Becker, Jim Ogle, Randy Vorsters; 1975Kevin Douglas, Harry Reed, Dan Burke; 1981Brent Zappacosta, Craig Wince; 1983Jon Stewart; 1984Jim Grzelak, Dan Hustaca; 1985Mike Nedved, Paul Hembrooke; 1986Jim Orlowski; 1987 Troy Marseline; 1988Rick Grant; 1989 Bryan Hilborn, Carlos Vasquez, Richard Dole; 1990Eric Perry; 1991Issac Kendrick; 1992Brian Yoshikawa; 1993DePrice Kelly, Scott Howell; 1995Adam Swantko, Edgar Alcala, Pablo Martinez; 1996Tim Snow; 1997Kyle Murdock, Nathan Jackson; 1998 Rob Basuino; 1999Jason Murdock, Grant Murdock; 2000Mike Wiens, Brian Davis; 2001Tim Scheffer, Josh McDonnell. Bellarmine 1977Dan Fahrner, Mike Kerrigan, Mark Rebboah; 1978Andy Johnson, Jeffrey Morgan; 1979Vince Stroth, Clancy O'Hara, Bob Palatella, Vince Canelo; 1980Rich Martig, Matthew Ramirez, Miker Heffernan, Chuck Slone; 1981Dave Ambrosini, Nick Holt, Joe Gomes, Sal Cesario; 1982Mike O'Donnell, Greg Powers, Dave Diaz-Infante, Erik Howard; 1983Bill Heffernan, Jim Banister, John Gatrousis, Randy Kirk; 1984Pat Arnold, Todd Locicero, Josh Whitney, Cassidy O'Hara; 1985J.P. Scandalios, Ron Caragher, Mark Dumont, Will Wall, Pat Wahler; 1986Al Lemerande, Jered Wagner, Doug Robinson; 1987Tyson Toles, Aaron Brubaker, Pete Fuqua, Chris Dean; 1988Alan Frame, Vic Giacalone; 1989Nick Stojanovic, Mike Filice, Nick Del Biaggio; 1990 David Popejoy; 1991Armando Avila, Tom McNeil, Harry Kim; 1992Troy LaCoursiere, Andrew Parkinson; 1994Duffy Moran, Dion Campisi; 1995Greg Gatto; 1996Joe Cirone, Blake Elliott, Jason Kong; 1997Erik Taylor, Tim Foley, McCabe Callahan; 1998Sam Prada, B.J. Brust; 1999Jeremy Jones, Kyle Pilgeram, Richie Alpers; 2000 Mike Collins, Jake Mossawir; 2001Danny Yoder, Clinton Wu. |