SLO County football team is loaded for FCA all-star game

Matt Albright dropping back and lofting a deep pass to a sprinting Bailey Gaither. Ethan Hicks landing a thunderous block as he paves the way for Chris Owens. Karson Block lining up at linebacker alongside Josh Oliver and Easton Coy.

The San Luis Obispo County team is 0-4 in the FCA All-Star football game, but with a roster chock full of CIF-Southern Section champions and semifinalists, that skid could very well come to an end when this year’s crop of players face off against the Northern Santa Barbara County All-Stars in the summer showcase at 7:30 p.m. June 6 at Santa Ynez High.

Sixty-six of the top high school senior football players in the area will represent the San Luis Obispo squad, including a combined 19 from the section-champion teams from Paso Robles and Nipomo.

Gaither, the 2014 Tribune County Player of the Year, leads a group of nine Bearcats from the team that beat Newbury Park in a mud-filled Northern Division final and advanced as the county’s first participant in a state regional bowl game. Also representing Paso Robles in the FCA All-Star game are: Jordan Burbank (offensive line), Josh Oliver (linebacker), Jonathan Baldwin (tight end), Michael Horne (defensive line), Parker Gray (defensive back), Trevor Torres (defensive back), Bryce Pasky (kicker) and Luis Alvarado (offensive line).

Ten Titans who won Nipomo’s first Southern Section team title in school history were selected for the game. Albright (quarterback), Nick Kimball (wide receiver), Brandon Hettenhouser (wide receiver), Owens (running back), Elias Guzman (offensive line) and Harrison Labastida (wide receiver) all come from the Titans’ hurry-up, spread offense while defenders Peyton Witcher (defensive back), Matt Sparks (defensive line), Hernan Rodriguez (defensive line) and Kai Givogue (linebacker) were also chosen.

Semifinalists Atascadero, Arroyo Grande and Templeton are also well represented on the San Luis Obispo County team, which lost the first four games by a combined score of 116-51 including the closest score last year, a 24-20 loss.

For the Greyhounds, Hicks (fullback), Block (linebacker), Nick Ducasse (linebacker), Nick DeRose (defensive back), Josh McEwan (defensive back), McKay Richey (offensive line), Tyler West (offensive line), Cooper Kuhnle (wide receiver) and Tommy Carr (quarterback) were named to the roster.

Cole Ramey (punter), Thomas Fuentez (defensive back), Sam Coleman (wide receiver), Ryan Teixeira (linebacker), Gavin Angello (offensive line), Nate Pino (offensive line) and Jordan Harrigan (running back/linebacker) are the Arroyo Grande contingent.

Coy (defensive back), Bryson Messer (running back), Anthony Chausse (offensive line), Christian Hauser (wide receiver), Brody Camping (linebacker), Justin Altamirano (offensive line), Scott Rigdon (wide receiver) and Noah McClain (defensive back) will represent the Eagles from Templeton.

Morro Bay, the third co-champion of the Northern League along with Nipomo and Templeton, has the most players on the roster with 11: Tyler Richmond (defensive back), Nick Meyers (linebacker), Karsten Sween (offensive line), Jordan Millington (linebacker), Edgar Rivera (defensive back), Elijah Garcia (defensive back), Will Unks (running back), Trajan Beecham (defensive line), Adrian Astorga (offensive line), Jordan Liberatore (defensive line) and Mario Barragan (linebacker).

San Luis Obispo High had six players selected: Joe Bravo (defensive line), Colton Marcum (linebacker), James Zanoli (defensive back), Dante Cappellano (tight end), Nate Greenelsh (wide receiver) and David Chellsen (offensive line).

Mission Prep also had a half dozen chosen: Shereef Wahba (offensive line), Carson Brown (tight end), Dylan Smiley (running back), Jack Ballentine (linebacker), Joseph Cassaca (offensive line) and James Taylor (offensive line).

Rich Schimke (Paso Robles) is the head coach of the squad with Vic Cooper (Atascadero) and Russ Edwards (Nipomo) as offensive coordinators and Jack Greer (Morro Bay) as defensive coordinator.

Dan Loney (Templeton), Tom Goossen (Arroyo Grande), Chad Henry (Mission Prep) and Pat Johnston (San Luis Obispo) will also assist.

The Northern Santa Barbara County squad is comprised of players from Pioneer Valley, Santa Maria, St. Joseph, Righetti, Cabrillo, Lompoc and Santa Ynez high schools.

This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 8:50 PM with the headline "SLO County football team is loaded for FCA all-star game."