LAKE FOREST – Offenses in postseason all-star games have a tendency to be vanilla.
With a limited amount of practice time and little familiarity between players and coaching staffs, playbooks, terminology and schemes are often simplified.
The inaugural Orange County vs. Inland Empire All-Star Classic on Saturday has the potential to be the exception to the rule.
With El Toro’s Robert Frith running the O.C. squad, and Centennial of Corona’s Matt Logan calling the shots for the I.E., two of the Southland’s best offensive minds are sure to put their stamp on the showcase event.
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Orange County vs. Inland Empire All-Star Classic
Saturday, at Corona High, 7 p.m.
Tickets: sold at the game; adults, $10; students, $7
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“The North vs. South (Orange County All-Star) games, I feel like, always come out 6-0 or like 12-6,” El Toro quarterback Trey Tinsley said. “Hopefully, if we can get some stuff rolling and we’re all on the same page, maybe we can put up some more points than that.”
There should be no shortage of points Saturday. There will be a severe lack of huddling, however.
Frith, whose El Toro squad was the county’s fastest in terms of running plays, joked earlier in the week he didn’t even know how to organize a huddle on offense. His counterpart can relate.
Centennial has grown to become the preeminent football program in the Inland Empire thanks in large part to Logan and his spread attack. The Huskies, who averaged 46 points and 437 yards per outing this season, won the CIF-SS Pac-5 Division championship and lost to De La Salle of Concord in the CIF State Open Division final.
Logan’s offense generated a staggering 83 touchdowns in 15 contests, and it did so against some of the top teams in the state, including Serra of Gardena, Mater Dei, Bishop Amat of La Puente and St. John Bosco.
“Expectations are that it’s going to be an exciting, entertaining game,” Frith said when considering the offensive firepower both teams possess. “Kids are going to go out there and make plays for both squads on both sides of the football.”
Logan will have his starting quarterback, Nate Ketteringham, guiding the Inland Empire’s loaded offense.
Also expected to play for the I.E. squad are Vista del Lago running back Terrell Lee, who rushed for 2,642 yards this season, highly recruited San Gorgonio receiver Nathan Meadors and Riverside Poly’s Ykili Ross, a USC commit
“I know they got speed, so I’m expecting everything to be quick, fast and up-tempo,” JSerra’s defensive back/wide receiver Ethan Aguayo said of the I.E. offense. “I’m just trying to prove to some scouts that I can play with the best.”
Knowing that Logan’s Centennial team was equally as dangerous on the ground as it was through the air, El Toro defensive back Danny Ngo said discipline will be the key for the O.C. defense.
“I’m expecting a lot of run stuff, and then them trying to hit the play-action over the top,” Ngo added. “I know they throw a lot of deep stuff and not too much short stuff. So we just got to stay over the top and keep everything in front of us.”
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
