Football: 47th Lions All-Star game to be played in Tracy

There also was no All-Star Game in 2021 or 2022 due to the lingering after-effects of the pandemic as high school scheduling wasn’t back to normal until the current 2022-23 school year.

With dollars still on hand from the canceled game from 2020 and with most of those who were serving on the Lions All-Star Football Game committee still committed to seeing the event honoring outstanding graduated local high school players continue, the Central California Lions All-Star Football Game is returning in 2023.

The all-star game, which now will be the 47th in the series, will be staged on Friday, June 24, 2023 at 7 p.m. at Tracy High’s Wayne Schneider Stadium, where the game was played from 2013 to 2018 before moving to Lincoln High in Stockton in 2019.

Coaches from the two teams also have been selected and they are already working on their rosters.

For the North, since he was supposed to be coaching the team in 2019, Edison of Stockton’s Booker Guyton was asked again and he has accepted again. The Vikings were coming off of a league championship team in 2019 and they are once again.

For the South, the co-head coaching duo will consist of the retiring Oakdale High legend Trent Merzon and Tim Garcia of Modesto's Grace Davis.

Merzon had never been able to coach the South team before, and the Lions All-Star Football Game committee couldn’t be more thrilled that a person of his stature is going to be involved this time.

Merzon coached the Mustangs to a record of 225-62-1 in 23 seasons. His winning percentage of 78.3 is one of the highest in Northern California history among coaches with 200 wins or more. Note: Lions All-Star committee member Wayne Schneider retired from Tracy with a 224-59-5 record (almost the same as Merzon with a 78.6 win percentage).

Guyton will be assisted by one of Edison’s two coordinators, former NFL wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins. Merzon will be assisted by longtime friend Tim Garcia, the Modesto Bee’s 2021 Coach of the Year from Grace Davis of Modesto.

The North won the 2019 game 19-18 and snapped a six-game winless streak in the series. The North also leads in the overall series 25-19-1.

There will be changes to the format of the event. In order to concentrate on getting the game itself back up and running, there will be no all-star banquet and players will not be housed at a college dorm for the week leading into the game. The Lions All-Star Football Committee may look into reviving those unique qualities of the event at a later time.

The Lions All-Star Football Classic began in 1974 and was held at the University of Pacific’s Memorial Stadium until 2011. With that stadium at the time being prepared for its eventual demolition, the Lions game moved to Modesto Junior College for two years and for six years from 2013 to 2018 had been held at Tracy High’s Wayne Schneider Stadium.

The committee, headed by Elizabeth Gibbs Olson, would like to specifically thank head coach Jeremy Plaa from Downey High of Modesto for joining the committee and offering invaluable insights as a former coach in the game and a former player in the game.

Contact the Tracy Press at tpnews@tracypress.com or 209-835-3030.