As far as James Barnard, Ryan Guzman and Cory Fry were concerned, the opportunity to play football one last time was too good to pass up.
Even if it meant passing up their Douglas High School graduation ceremony on Friday afternoon.
Instead, the three Douglas seniors celebrated by playing in the 25th annual Sertoma Classic all-star game that same night in Reno. There were no regrets, either, even though their Silver team came out on the short end of a 24-0 score against the Blue at Mackay Stadium.
Forget the score. It was a chance to play with and against the top graduating football talent from around Northern Nevada.
"It was great," said Guzman, who recovered a fumble during the game. "I had to miss graduation, but it was worth it.
"It was great to get to know those guys. A lot of them are going off to play football in college - some of them will play D1 - but for a handful of us, this was the last time we will ever play football."
Guzman is headed to the University of Nevada, where he plans to concentrate computer science engineering, Bernard is headed to Prescott, Ariz., to attend Ambry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Fry will attend Western Nevada Community College.
When Barnard accepted the invitation to play in the Sertoma Classic, he knew it would mean missing graduation.
"I didn't really miss it," he said. "I'd rather play football."
The Tigers made their presence known on the field:
n Fry (6-foot, 246 pounds) recovered a fumble early in the third quarter that put Silver in scoring position on the 28 at a time when Team Blue's lead was only 10-0. The Silver was unable to capitalize on the opportunity when a 45-yard field goal attempt sailed wide.
n Guzman stopped Galena's Ryan Krueger for a 1-yard loss in the third quarter. Later, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound defensive end made a stop and then recovered a fumble near midfield early in the fourth.
n Barnard (5-8, 175), who wore No. 7 in the game because his regular No. 77 was unavailable, was busy as he saw action as a long snapper, defensive lineman and on the kickoff and kick return units.
Barnard enjoyed the challenge of playing at an all-star level.
"Usually, you're up against one or two good guys. Out there, everybody was good, so it wasn't easy," he said. "It was a challenge and that's the way I like it. I don't want it to be easy. That's not my cup of tea."
Fry said he enjoyed the Sertoma experience - in spite of the final score.
"It was tough to go out with a loss. It was a tough game, though personally, I thought we could have played better, but I'm glad I came here and played," he said. "I had a really good time all week getting to know everyone. I knew them on the field before this, but I didn't know them personally."
All three were selected to the All-Sierra Nevada football team for their performances last fall. Barnard, who played three years at Douglas after transferring from Whittell, was a first-team all-region defensive tackle, while Guzman and Fry earned second-team all-league recognition as offensive linemen. All three were two-way starters for the Tigers.
"They aren't the biggest guys around, they just played with a lot of intensity, desire and always at top speed," Douglas coach Mike Rippee said. "That's how they played for us and that's how they went out (Friday night)."
Note: Another Douglas County athlete, Whittell's Jeff Young, saw action as Team Blue's kicker. Young opened the scoring when he kicked a 40-yard field goal on Team Blue's first possession. He missed two other field goal attempts, one a 34-yard attempt that went wide at the end of the first quarter, the other a 32-yarder that was blocked by Bishop Manogue's Austin Sylvester as time expired at halftime. And the Warrior was perfect on each of his three PAT kick attempts.
Sertoma Classic
Blue 24, Silver 0
Blue10077-24
Silver0000-0
First quarter
B - Young 40 field goal, 9:04 left in period
B - Krueger 3 run (Young kick), 5:28
Third quarter
B - Tonon 4 run (Young kick), :19
Fourth quarter
B - Edwards 27 run (Young kick), 7:02
Individual statistics
Rushing - Blue (54 carries, 250 yards): Edwards 6-65, Ward 10-53, Guerrera 6-46, Krueger 15-45, Tonon 8-28, Berry 3-17, Stokes 2-3, Osborn 2-minus 2, Radford 2-minus 5. Silver (25-minus 4): Maffei 7-44, Richardson 1-minus 3, Liguori 1-minus 4, Dobbins 7-minus 8, Hodges 2-minus 12, Wickes 7-minus 21.
Passing - Blue: Ward 2-4-0-50, Radford 2-8-1-18. Silver: Wickes 1-5-1-1, Hodges 1-7-0-31, Feemster 1-1-0-23.
Receiving - Blue: Peterson 1-38, Tonon 1-5, Fritsche 1-13, Edwards 1-12. Silver: McKinish 2-54, Cornu 1-1.
