Four college-bound members of last season’s Point Loma High School CIF playoff football team played important roles in the 25th Annual Alex Spanos All-Star Classic football game played July 11 at Mesa College.
The summer battle is the longest-running prep all-star game in California, providing graduating seniors from North and South county schools one final opportunity to take the field in front of family and friends as they bid their prep careers farewell.
And, there are some important bragging rights at stake too.
Wearing white San Diego Chargers-style jerseys with the famed powder blue vertical stripes and lightning bolts on their pants, Gavin Grady, Cole Kidd, Dan O’Beirne and Jacob Virissimo helped the South team to a convincing 28-0 victory that once again affirmed that the county’s best football is not always played in North County.
The victory gives the South an 11-10 edge in the game’s current North-South format and a five-game winning streak including last year’s 21-17 match.
Grady shared quarterbacking duties with El Capitan’s Brad Cagle, and each guided the South team to a touchdown on its first two possessions.
After the South took an early 7-0 lead, a lost North fumble gave the South a short field, and several plays later, Grady connected with El Capitan’s Isaiah Capoocia on a four-yard scoring pass that quickly upped the South lead to 14-0.
Kidd’s fourth down sack of the North quarterback in the second quarter fired up his teammates, who marched 45 yards for a score, boosting the lead to 21-0 at halftime.
In the fourth quarter, the North’s most serious scoring threat was thwarted by the stingy South defense and the South moved for its final touchdown.
South head coach Ron Burner and staff (El Capitan) were able to prepare their squad during a short two-week practice period that brought players together from many schools with divergent playing styles. 
Kidd, O’Beirne and Virissimo were key members of a smothering defense that wreaked havoc on the North’s best players, often chasing quarterbacks out of the pocket and delivering stunning hits on running backs and receivers.
Kidd and Virissimo reprised their Pointer roles as defensive ends while O’Beirne saw action at linebacker and also played offensive line.
The South tallied 10 sacks against the North, seven coming in the first half.
“The game was fun,” said Virissimo as the four Pointers gathered afterwards. “Playing with and going up against people we don’t usually play with was really cool.”
Grady observed, “You think you’re going to bump heads with some of the guys you played against, but everyone came together and they’re your brothers all of a sudden.”
“The two weeks of practice we had showed how football brings people together,” said O’Beirne. “During practices, we came together with people I didn’t even want to talk to.”
“It was a great experience to play with and against players I’d heard and talked about,” Kidd noted. “We got to bond, and the competition was great.”
Each former Pointer will have an opportunity to connect with others they haven’t met as they continue their football careers. Grady is headed to Chapman University, Kidd to Grossmont College, O’Beirne to Wheaton College and Virissimo to Sonoma State University.
Two former professional players with Pointer ties were among those honored on the field in pre-game ceremonies.
Former defender Jimmy Wilson, class of 2004, played in the Spanos Classic before moving on to University of Montana. He just signed with the Chargers after four seasons with the Miami Dolphins and served as the South’s honorary captain.
La’Roi Glover, class of 1992, also played as a defensive lineman in the all-star game before embarking on an honor-filled professional career.
that saw him record 83.5 sacks and be named to six Pro Bowls, National Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year (2000) and the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2000’s.
The game also featured the debut of the 2015 Chargers Girls, who performed at halftime.