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."

Los Gatos free safety Derek Tam agreed.

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

Tam expressed disappoint over the North loss, especially since he 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.

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

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

Thomas DeLash (Leigh) 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.

Bryen Blankenship (Westmont) took over at quarterback for the North in the second half and got off to a good start. He hit J.P. Bellotti (St. Francis) 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 hit Anthony Reyes (both of Silver Creek) for the 2-point conversion, and the South led 14-13.

Chris Orozco (Leigh) scored from a yard out for the North, but an 11-yard TD toss from Long to Guy Bingham (Piedmont Hills) put the South back on top 20-19.

The North came out passing after the kickoff, but Alesanan Ulu (Independence) stole the ball from the receiver and raced 20 yards for a score.

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

Dionne, a three-sport star for the Rams and the school's valedictorian in the spring, has the difficult task of playing baseball and football at the same time while preparing for the all-star game.

"It was hard to balance with baseball," he said. But he did a good enough job to figure as a top hitter and pitcher for the Lincoln Glen Little League's Big League team that won District 12 and Section 5 championships.