The 32nd Annual North South Rotary Bob Green Football Classic was held Saturday night, June 24 in Merced. Recent graduate and gridiron standout Bo Capps of Escalon suited up for the North and helped pave the way for a 33-19 victory.

Prior to kickoff, Bob Green and the Rotary Club honored the late Dennis Wallace with a moment of silence. Wallace was a high school football official for over two decades; the deputy sheriff was killed in the line of duty last November. His brother, David Wallace, delivered a heartfelt speech and Bob Green then stood next to Dennis’s widow as they presented the Dennis Wallace Scholarship to Zack Gardner of Escalon, a standout cross country runner and golfer who graduated from EHS earlier this month.

On the field, the North wasted little time and scored on the defensive side of the ball when Merced’s David Perales scored on a fumble recovery from the first play of scrimmage. Perales’s return was good from 27 yards out, setting the tone early. The North trailed 12-7 in the second quarter but pulled ahead on a 27-yard touchdown catch by Ceres wide receiver Conner Johnson to give the North a 14-12 lead. In the third quarter the North started to pull away and scored on a fake punt to go up 26-12 and scored on a 54 yard touchdown pass late in the game to go up 33-19.

Both Capps brothers, Bo and Blue, were selected to play in the All-Star contest but Blue, previously injured, was not able to participate. A story in the June 28 issue of The Times indicated Blue played; however, that was incorrect, as Bo Capps was the Escalon representative.