The Carson Country area will be well represented at the 23rd annual Sertoma Football Classic slated for June 18 at 7:30 p.m. at University of Nevada's Mackay Stadium.
A total of 25 players, including five from Carson High, have been selected for the charity game which brings together the best graduating seniors from 4A, 3A and 2A teams in Northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe.
And, this year's game has a new wrinkle. Instead of using boundaries, the head coaches, Mike Rippee of Douglas and Dave Hart of Fernley, drafted schools. Instead of East and West, the teams will go by Silver and Blue. The change was made to keep both sides relatively equal in size of schools and player talent.
Rippee, who guided Douglas to an 11-1 record last fall, will guide the Silver squad which includes players from Douglas, Carson, McQueen, Elko, White Pine, Battle Mountain, North Tahoe, South Tahoe, Tahoe-Truckee and Bishop Manogue. He will use his assistants as well as Carson's Shane Quilling on his staff.
Linebacker-tight end Nick Shine, wide receiver-defensive back Mike Handley, safety Danny Rotter, linebacker John Stewart and two-way lineman Rob Ghigiieri will represent the Senators.
Douglas put 10 players - linebacker Anthony Ripoli, quarterback-safety Luke Rippee, running back Dusty Cooper, wide receiver Andy McIntosh, linebacker Jake Peterson, defensive ends Stormy Herald and Nick Summers, two-way lineman Nate Walsh, guard Paul Mannelly and defensive tackle-tight end Dan Senger - on the squad.
Galena put five players on the squad - linebacker Kyle Bateson, running back Mike Murry, linebacker-center Dennis Bolz, two-way lineman Zach Harger and defensive end-tight end Frank Kurnik.
Hart's squad includes players from Reno, Hug, Sparks, Lowry, Dayton, Reed, Fernley, Spring Creek, North Valleys, Wooster and Spanish Springs.
Safety Casey Skog, defensive tackle Joe Sandoval and wide receiver Dylan Morris represent Dayton. Ryan Clifford, a wide receiver-defensive back, and Danny Regalado, a defensive back-running back, represent Fernley.
The Silver squad starts practice on June 14 at Carson High.
