Ford Dealers classic set Saturday

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Ford Dealers classic set Saturday

Cody Pastorella The Port Arthur News

The first ever Southeast Texas Ford Dealers All-Star Classic football game is a week away. In preparation for Saturday's contest, players will report for their first practice on Tuesday.

The East All-Stars will practice at Silsbee High School, while the West (coached by Newton's Curtis Barbay) will workout at Hardin High School.

West Orange-Stark boss and East coach Dan Hooks said practices will run from around 4-6 p.m. and are open to the public. Workouts will continue on Wednesday and Thursday. The game is scheduled for a 7 o'clock kick off at the Reservation in Port Neches.

Tickets are set at $5 for adults and $2 for students. Fox Channel 4 will air the game live.

There are a total of 76 players involved with 38 on each squad. All players are seniors.

From Mid-County, Nederland and Port Neches-Groves both have three representatives suiting up for the East. Port Arthur Memorial has four players geared for action including quarterback Corwin Keal, receiver Nate Davis, offensive lineman Eric Payne and linebacker Earl Hines.

Nederland's Grant Lovelady and PN-G's Caleb Harmon should provide plenty of power running for the East. Hooks intends on using those two to his advantage but says both teams will mostly lineup in a spread.

Defensive tackle Marcus Louviere and kicking sensation Taylor Trahan are the other two Bulldog all-stars. Center Klete LeBlanc and defensive back Dre Dunbar round out PN-G's participants.

Dunbar and Harmon were each finalists for the Willie Ray Smith Awards. Both players were also part of the Port Arthur News Super Team. Memorial's Hines and Nederland's Trahan were also Super Team selections.

Hooks said he hopes his East All-Stars are semi-organized come Saturday. He said in a phone interview on Friday that he doesn't know what the defensive approach will be but added the plan will be simple.

In effort to avoid injuries, the All-Star game rules will not allow for linebacker stunts or blitzes.

All the players were chosen by a panel of 12-committee members. Coaches from area schools submitted their school's top three players and the committee chose from that list. Along with WO-S, Nederland, PN-G, Memorial and Silsbee, the participating schools from the East are Orangefield, Hamshire-Fannett, Vidor, Beaumont Central, Hardin-Jefferson, Jasper, Kirbyville, Woodville, Buna, Warren, and Deweyville.

The West includes Newton, Beaumont Kelly, West Brook, Ozen, East Chambers, Lumberton, Anahuac, Barbers Hill, Crosby, Evadale, Hardin, Cleveland, Coldspring, Liberty, and Tarkington.

WEST:

Anahuac: Thaddus Johnson, Braxton Mayes

Barbers Hill: Matthew Viverette, Caleb Stork Chris Fechner

Cleveland:  Jeremy Lowe, Chris Keyser, Doug Higginbotham

Coldspring: Chad Allen, Andrew Leigh, Otis Washington

Crosby: Dylan Judy,  Michael Mangum, Cameron Trench, James Harris

East Chambers: Dylan Kramer, J.T. Hallmark

Hardin: Mitch Villemez

Lumberton: Sean Sparks, Jesse Sparks, Kyler Keith

Newton: Halston Flanigan, LaRay Alfred, Malcolm Mattox

Kelly: Chris Quinn, Collin Fournet

Tarkington: Shelby Cucco, Justin Lawrence

Liberty: DeJunge Robinson, Jeremy Dickey

West Brook: Dequane Bennett, Josh Wilson, Roynald Allen, Broderick Jackson

Ozen: Ricky Francis, Jacoby Anderson, Pierre Harmon

Evadale: Shelby Stanley



EAST

Buna: Dakota Blessing

Central: Keith O’Neal, William Jones, Sterling Cantue

Deweyville: Keeton Addison

Hamshire-Fannett: Justin Scully, Casey Lowe

Hardin-Jefferson: Blake Venable, Jacoby Turner

Jasper: Sam Alvis, Cedric McGill, Tevin McBride

LC-M: Johnny Epps, Jeremy Chauvin

Kirbyville: Chris Ezidore, JaMichael Ervin

Nederland: Taylor Trahan, Grant Lovelady, Marcus Louviere

Orangefield: Corey Huckabay, Derrick Evans

PN-G: Caleb Harmon, Klete LeBlanc, Dre Dunbar

Memorial: Nate Davis, Eric Payne, Corwin Neal, Earl Hines

Silsbee: Chris Barnes, LeRoy Simmons

Vidor: Scott Utterback, Patton, James Burns

Warren: Dalton Edwards

Woodville: Caleb Hadnot

West Orange-Stark: Justin Francis, Stephen Cook, Justin Sparrow