Football 'Stars return to Spartan Stadium

Spartan Stadium has been a major sports venue in the Santa Clara Valley since it first opened back in 1933 as the 4,000-seat home of the San Jose State University football team.

More than 70 years later, the Spartans continue to play football on the grass floor of the S. 10th Street stadium. It has since grown to become a 30,000-seat facility that through the years has also been home to the San Jose State soccer teams, professional soccer teams, the NCAA's now-defunct Silicon Valley Football Classic and many other events.

For many years, too, Spartan Stadium was home to the Silicon Valley Youth Classic Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football Game. Now, after a six-year hiatus, the all-stars are back.

The 33rd edition of the summer football classic will return to Spartan Stadium on July 18, 7:30 p.m., back on the turf where it all began in 1974. With the exception of 1976 when there was no game, the summer clash that features the top football players of each year's graduating class was played at Spartan until 1989. The game was played at San Jose City College from 1990 to 1996, moved to Independence High School in 2001 and went back to City College from 2002 to 2006.

But finally the all-star game is back where it belongs — at Spartan Stadium. The South enters the July 18 game with a 17-13-2 edge in the series, but the North is coming off of a win that snapped a string of four South victories.

The game, sponsored by the Almaden Valley Rotary Club and called the "Best Game in Town," featured future National Football League stars as St. Francis tight end Doug Cosbie of the Dallas Cowboys and Archbishop Mitty linebacker Don Schwartz of the St. Louis Cardinals and New Orleans Saints in that first game in '74.

In following years, the game has included such future professionals as Jeff Garcia (Gilroy) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Jeff Toews (Del Mar) of the Miami Dolphins; John Tuggle (Independence) and Erik Howard (Bellarmine) of the New York Giants; the late Pat Tillman (Leland) of the Arizona Cardinals; Jared Allen (Los Gatos) of the Kansas City Chiefs; Jeff Ulbrich (Live Oak), the late Carl Monroe (Overfelt) and Randy Kirk (Bellarmine) of the San Francisco 49ers; Rich Campbell (Santa Teresa) of the Green Bay Packers; Tim Ryan (Oak Grove) of the Chicago; and Nathan Jackson (Pioneer) of the Denver Broncos.

Los Gatos quarterback Trent Edwards, who recently signed with the Buffalo Bills, and Fremont's Tully Banta-Cain, a new addition to the 49ers, also played in the summer game.

Who knows what future pros may be on the field at Spartan Stadium for the 2007 summer classic on July 18? Another Jeff Garcia or Trent Edwards? Another Tully Banta-Cain or Don Schwartz? Another Pat Tillman or Doug Cosbie?

Among the local players set to play for the South team in the summer game are Uriel Basilio, Marcos Garces, and Mike Rosseland of Willow Glen, and Kevin Gonzales of Bellarmine.

Former local stars who have participated in the summer classic include:

Bellarmine
1977—Dan Fahrner, Mike Kerrigan, Marc Rebboah; 1978—Andy Johnson, Jeffrey Morgan; 1979—Vince Stroth, Clancy O'Hara, Bob Palatella, Vince Canelo; 1980—Rich Martig, Matthew Ramirez, Mike Heffernan, Chuck Slone; 1981— Dave Ambrosini, Nick Holt, Joe Gomes, Sal Cesario; 1982—Mike O'Donnell, Greg Powers, Dave Diaz-Infante, Erik Howard; 1983—Bill Heffernan, Jim Banister, John Gatrousis, Randy Kirk; 1984—Pat Arnold, Todd Locicero, Josh Whitney, Cassidy O'Hara; 1985—J.P. Scandalios, Ron Caragher, Mark Dumont, Will Wall, Pat Wahler; 1986—Al Lemerande, Jered Wagner, Doug Robinson; 1987—Tyson Toles, Aaron Brubaker, Pete Fuqua, Chris Dean; 1988—Alan Frame, Vic Giacalone; 1989—Nick Stojanovic, Mike Filice, Nick Del Biaggio; 1990—David Popejoy; 1991— Armando Avila, Tom McNeil, Harry Kim; 1992— Troy LaCoursiere, Andrew Parkinson; 1994—Duffy Moran, Dion Campisi; 1995—Greg Gatto; 1996—Joe Cirone, Blake Elliott, Jason Kong; 1997—Erik Taylor, Tim Foley, McCabe Callahan; 1998—Sam Prada, B.J. Brust; 1999—Jeremy Jones, Kyle Pilgeram, Richie Alpers; 2000—Mike Collins, Jake Mossawir; 2001—Danny Yoder, Clinton Wu; 2002—Kevin Alger, Richard Faiva, James Rozzi, Kevin Shull; 2003—Shannon Sevor, Brandon Valenzuela; 2004—Andy Armstrong, Chip Lewis, Chris Parrette; 2005—David Graham, John Gill; Steve McGovern; 2006—Jalal Beauchman, Tim Danser, Matt Zuniga.

Willow Glen
1976—Mitch Bigger, Carl Roth; 1982—Steve Malik, Doug Ito; 1983—Bill Chavarria, Bret Gedryn, Chris Thomas; 1984—John Foster, Jeff Knopf, Fred Houston; 1985—David Williams; 1986—Rigo Gutierrez, Terry Fine; 1987—Scott Benning, Javier Gutierrez; 1988—Andy Brinck; 1989—Dave Miller; 1992—Curtis Given; 1993—Josh Ledger, Scott Hernandez; 1994—Jose Martinez; 1995—Mike Burse, David Duran, Dean Vinson; 1996—Bryan Navarrette; 1997—Tim Hare; 1998—Shaun Thompson, Mike Von Rueden; 1999—John Fernandez, Cory Hare; 2000—David Macchi, Ben D'Antonio; 2001—Gabe Candelaria; 2003—Doug Dionne; 2004—Alex Green, Chris Hobbs; 2005—Nate Torres; 2006—Eric Zetterquist.

Tickets for the game, priced at $15 for adults (children under 8 admitted free with an adult with a ticket), are available locally at Almaden Barber Stylists, 5945 Almaden Expressway (408.997.1424), and at the following Old Republic Title Locations: in Almaden, 5570 Sanchez Drive, Suite 100 (408.445.5800); in Campbell, 2105 S. Bascom Ave., Suite 120 (408.371.9950); in Cupertino, 10020 N. De Anza Blvd., Suite 101 (408. 255.5880); in San Jose, 1900 The Alameda (408.556.2080); and in Saratoga, 12228 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road (408.725.8500). Tickets will also be on sale at Spartan Stadium the night of the game. For more information, call 408.268.7196.