South holds on to beat North, 24-21

COSTA MESA - Leading by just three points in the fourth quarter, the South and Matt Viles didn’t drive for a touchdown.

But the Edison quarterback helped his team do the next best thing Friday night.

The South offense held the ball for almost eight minutes to help preserve a 24-21 victory in the 51st Brea Lions Orange County all-star football game in front of an estimated 6,500 at Orange Coast College.

PHOTOS: Check out all of the photos from the game. 

Top players and the all-star game by the numbers

Former Edison QB Matt Viles makes a lasting impression

After the North trimmed the South lead to three points with 8:16 left, Viles and the South kept the ball away from the North until 27 seconds remained in the game. The North offense got the ball at its 15 yard line and had no timeouts.

The North ran two plays before time expired and the South claimed its second consecutive victory. The North leads the series, 25-23-3.

“The offense hadn’t been out there in a long time,” said Viles, selected the offensive player of the game. “It seemed like the defense had been out there for ever. We got the ball back. I love our offensive line. We grinded it out. We did our job.”

Viles (11 of 13 for 97 yards, 1 TD) did his part on the final drive with some clutch third-down conversions on a possession that started at the South 6. On a third-and-9 from his 40, Viles connected with San Clemente wide out Dominick Ela for a 13-yard gain with about five minutes left.

Later on another third-and-9 from the North 47, Viles threaded the needle on an 11-yard gain to Fountain Valley’s Ryan Steadman with 2:55 left.

Viles’ accuracy helped the South overcome the defensive pressure of lineman Joe Taufetee of Garden Grove and Eric Padilla of La Habra. Both had sacks on the final drive. Taufetee finished with 2 1/2 sacks and was selected the defensive player of the game.

The North, hurt by two safeties and blocked punt that led to a score, drew to three points early in the fourth. The North capped a 97-yard scoring drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Rancho Alamitos quarterback Mike Frank to Garden Grove’s Sean Young.

Kennedy quarterback Andy Peterson made it 24-21 by running in the 2-point conversion.

The North kept its drive alive early by converting a fourth-and-1 from its 11. Frank was a spark in the second half and finished with 132 yards.

“Once we minimized those mistakes, we shined as a team,” Taufetee said. "For this game, everybody brought it to the table."

For the second consecutive year, the South started fast.

After the South defense opened the game by forcing a quick North punt, the offense drove for a 24-yard field goal by Laguna Hills kicker Matt Burke. The South was successful on a pair of fourth-down conversions on a drive that started at the North's 45.

On the ensuing possession, the South forced another three-and-out and then blocked the punt. Laguna Hills linebacker Matt Martindale blocked it and recovered the ball at the North’s 6. On the next play, Trabuco Hills running back Shane DeCillo scored as the South opened a 10-0 lead with 2:54 left in the quarter.

The South defense continued to pounce on the North on the ensuing kickoff. Burke pinned return man Damani Wilson of Orange Lutheran in the end zone.

The speedster tried to take advantage of the game rules that allow kickoffs to be returned from the end zone but he appeared to briefly cross the goal line before taking a knee in the end zone when surrounded by South defenders. The officials awarded a safety and the South took a 12-0 lead.

In 2009, the South scored 21 consecutive points in the first quarter en route to a 38-21 victory.

The South also recorded a safety in the third quarter when North punter Tyler Drees of Esperanza kicked the ball out of the end zone after the ball got past him. The safety extended the South's lead to 24-13 with 16 seconds in the third.

The South’s special teams also produced a blocked punt in the second quarter. Capistrano Valley’s Michael Maierhoffer blocked a second punt about two minutes into the quarter but the South couldn’t capitalize.

The North got on the scoreboard midway through the second on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Peterson to his Kennedy teammate, Michael Evans. Peterson earlier had a nice scramble on a fourth-down conversion to keep the drive alive.

But the South went into halftime leading, 15-7, on a 42-yard field goal by Burke with five seconds left in the second quarter. The left-footed Burke performed well despite a recent sprained ankle to his right plant foot.

The South opened the second half was its best scoring drive. With Viles at the controls, the South drove 88 yards on seven plays for a score to open a 22-7 lead. Viles capped the drive by tossing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ela, who made a sliding grab.

Mission Viejo’s Jake Marshall sparked the drive with a bruising 47-yard run to the North’s 20.

With Frank at quarterback, the North responded on its next drive. The Golden West College-bound passer led the North on a 81-yard scoring drive. Utah State-bound running back Joseph Hill scored 12-yard run - complete with a dive into the end zone - with 5:12 left in the third. The extra-point missed and the South led, 22-13.

But despite the third-quarter safety, the North trailed just, 24-21, with 8:16 left in the fourth after the Frank-to-Young connection.

The crowd at Orange Coast College was on its feet with excitement.

“They’re a gritty team,” Viles said of the North. “I had fun out there.”