Prep football stars from across the state made their way to the state capitol to play in the Texas High School Football Coaches Association’s 75th All Star Game at DKR Memorial Stadium in Austin on Tuesday night.
But before it was all said and done, the game could have easily been renamed the Dustin Harris show as the Livingston graduate, and soon to be Texas A&M Aggie, stole the spotlight. Thanks to two big runs by Harris, the South topped the North 48-21 in the game.
While Harris earned Defensive MVP honors, the offensive nod went to Madisonville running back and alumnus Chris Whaley, who scored three touchdowns in the game. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Whaley should start to feel at home and will certainly have a chance to score many more touchdowns as he begins his Longhorn career this fall.
The Harris (6-1, 175) started to go to work as early as the second quarter when he wrestled reception out of Longview cornerback LaMarcus Howard’s (NW Louisiana) hands to preserve the drive. The South capped the drive off when Beeville-Jones quarterback Eric Soza (Texas State) threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Judson’s Chris McAllister (Baylor).
With a commanding 27-0 halftime lead, Harris came out of the locker room with more of that same wow factor. On the opening kick-off Harris’ 35-yard return seemed as though it had the potential to go the distance after taking it out his own end zone.
A couple possessions later, it was more Harris, this time on a kickoff return that went for 99 yards, which was the longest kick return in the history of the classic game.
“I’ve had a four touchdowns in a game, but never have I had a game with two from more than 90 yards,” Harris said after the game. “It’s hard, and it’s fun. It’s tiring, but it’s fun.”
The North first got on the board after a Howard punt blocked which was returned for a touchdown. And just when it seemed like the North was getting some movement, a fumble occurred inside the 5-yard line and Harris was there to take the fumble 95 yards for a score.
After that, the North managed to score a few more times, but by then it is was too late.
Leading the way on the ground was Rice Consolidated graduate Zacchaeus Foster with 57 yards on nine carries. Foster will play for Blinn junior college in the fall.
In the passing category, Soza completed four of his seven passes for 63 yards and a touchdown pass
“The touchdown pass was probably the highlight of the game for me,” Soza said. “But the biggest highlight to me is just being selected to be here. There are a lot of good players from Texas and I’m just honored to play a part in this game.”
In the 75 years the game has been played, the North has the edge 39-30.