Area Football Players To Take Part in Shrine Game

Fourteen area football players have been selected to compete in the 37th Annual Illinois High School Football All-Star Game on Saturday, July 16. Game time will be 6:00 p.m. and located at Peoria Stadium in Peoria.

The event is sponsored by the Mohammed Shriners, with the cooperation of the Illinois Coaches Association.

Forty players were selected for the West team, and another forty were selected for the East team. Players were nominated by their coaches, with the final selections made by the District Chairmen of the Illinois Coaches Association.

Area players on the West team are: Frank Alfano (Hall), Will Bird (Morrison), Kyle Bumphrey (Annawan/Wethersfield), Sam Caldwell (Sandwich), Adam Cox (Stillman Valley), Trey Griffin (Lena-Winslow), Dorian Heyniewick (Sycamore), Lucas Nease (Newman), Jon Pena (Ottawa), C.J. Robbins (LaSalle-Peru), Dan Semtner (IVC), Andrew Walters (Geneseo), and Niko Watson (Rock Island).

Streator's Chris Wahl was is the lone area player on the East team.

Lena-Winslow head coach Ric Arand will be one of the assistants on the West team, under head coach Jim Unruh of Illini West. Current Dixon head coach and former Mt. Zion head coach Dave Smith will be an assistant on the East team, under head coach Scott Hamilton of Tolono Unity.

Players and coaches will dorm and practice in the three days leading up to the event. There will be an awards banquet on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Eureka College. Reservations are required for the banquet, and they are $25.00. Tickets to the Game are $8.00 in advance (or $10.00 at the gate). Mail ticket inquiries (with a self-addressed stamped envelope) to Mohammed Shrine, Shrine All Star Football, 4201 S. Industry Rd., Bartonville IL 61607.

All proceeds of the game will go to the Shrine Hospitals for children. Shriners Hospitals have helped approximately 835,000 children to date in their 22 hospitals in North America.