Kennedy Trio on the Defensive

Two are headed for a community college, the other to a school better known for producing farmers than linemen.

You could say the three players, all part of the North’s defense in tonight’s annual North-South all-star prep football game, have something to prove.

Kennedy’s Neal Hannifin, Dane Smith and Jack Tucker could play a pivotal role in tonight’s game at Orange Coast College.

All three teammates on the North team are starting on defense.

“It’s typical having three guys from one team picked, but once you get 34 all-stars competing for spots, I think it’s unrealistic to think that it’s a common occurrence for three guys [from one team] to be starting on one side of the ball,” North Coach Doug Case said. “All three of them have been extremely impressive.”

Case, of Rancho Alamitos, is coaching the quiet all-star team. While the South has players from teams that won two Southern Section titles and three other teams that were finalists last season, the North drew from a talent pool that included only two teams--Brea Olinda and Orange Lutheran--that reached the section semifinals.

And the South is loaded with players who are going to Division I colleges.

“It’s not the college, it’s the player [that matters],” said Smith, a 6-foot-3 1/2, 305-pound defensive tackle headed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to major in agricultural business. “To me, it’s all hype until I get a chance to go up against them and see how good they are.”

Smith will get that chance with some familiar faces at his side. Tucker will start at inside linebacker and Hannifin will play defensive end. Their presence has helped create remarkable chemistry for the North team.

Tucker (6-1, 225) and Hannifin (6-2, 265) will play next season at Cerritos College, and the primary player they’ll be trying to stop tonight is UCLA-bound DeShaun Foster.

“Bigger is not always better,” Hannifin said. “We may be smaller and not have the [more publicized] names, but we’re ready to go. . . . Foster’s impressive [but] whoever lays the first lick on Foster, it’s going to raise some eyebrows. It’s just going to get our team going; that’s all we need--one thing to get us going.

“Our main goal is to come out and show that we can do something. Everyone counts us out, but we’re coming to play.”

The defense could be especially impressive for the North. It includes Brea Olinda defensive back Rasuli Webster (Oregon), Sunny Hills defensive lineman Jason Hayward (Fullerton College) and Rancho Alamitos linebacker David Vickers (Colorado State), all three Times All-Orange County first-team selections.

Kennedy--the major contributor to the North’s defense--gave up an average of 13.8 points a game, and that’s largely because the Irish gave up 24 in the season opener against Savanna and 38 in a second-round playoff loss to Newport Harbor.

One begins to understand Kennedy’s defense when Case starts describing the “aggressive” Fighting Irish players he has coached the last three weeks. He called Hannifin “fiery,” Tucker “big-hitting” and Smith “a vicious tackler.”

As much as anything, pride will be at the heart of every play.

“Don’t get me wrong, DeShaun and [Dana Hills’ Julio] Peraza are the real thing,” Tucker said of the South’s running backs. “I also think we are too. Maybe we don’t have the numbers or the school to show it, but we’re going to come out and play and we’re going to hit. That’s what we say at Kennedy; fans don’t come out to watch a football game, they come out to see whether or not you hit. [Tonight] we’re going at people.”

It is a prospect Tucker finds intriguing and, in some ways, may provide him an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy.

“It’s going to be fun to play against them,” he said. “In a couple of years, we’re going to turn the TV on on Saturdays and it’s going to be fun to say I played against that guy and I hit him a couple of times. And maybe he’ll remember that the guys at Kennedy really smacked.”

Notes

Among the notable players who won’t be participating for the South in tonight’s game is Laguna Hills’ Michael Jones. South Coach Myron Miller (Tustin) said Jones, the county’s all-time rushing leader, committed to the game but still had not contacted him through the first nine days of practice. University tight end Justin Isaac called Miller the night of the first practice to say he decided not to play, and Tustin lineman Corey Chambers-Alston told Miller weeks ago he was going on a senior class trip to Mexico.

The North team, which is in its third week of practice, also was affected. Among those who will not play are Orange defensive back Derald Deason--who, according to Coach Doug Case, didn’t attend practice and didn’t contact Case until this week--and Los Alamitos receiver Blair Havens.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

All-Star Football Game

* Event: 39th Orange County North-South prep all-star football game.

* Where: Orange Coast College

* When: 7:15 tonight

* Admission: $7 in advance, $8 at game. People donating eye glasses will get in for $7. Call (714) 792-0325

* Noteworthy: Proceeds benefit such local charities as PADRE Foundation, Western Youth Services, Orange County Special Olympics, Orange County Youth Foundation and high school and youth groups. A donation of new or used eye glasses will be worth $1 off a ticket purchased at the game. Sponsored by the Orange County Youth Foundation, a division of the Brea Lions Club.