Football coaches Eric Perry of Pioneer and Jake Messina of Fremont are living parallel lives.
As they prepare to face off against one another on opposite sidelines in the annual Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star High School Football Game–Perry as the head coach for the South, Messina the leader of the North–the similarities between the two are … well, there seem to be quite a few … got a minute?
• They both graduated from high school in 1990
• As high school football players, both played in all-star games
• They each played on the defensive side for their all-star teams, Perry at safety and Messina at tackle
• They both went on to play football at the junior college level, Perry at West Valley College and Messina at the College of San Mateo
Wait, there’s more.
• As high school football coaches, they each took their teams to the Central Coast Section playoffs last fall
• They are each head coaches in the Wedemeyer Game for the first time
• And they are both longtime fans of the San Francisco 49ers.
Why is that important? Because the two high school coaches will square off this weekend in the 41st annual South Bay Youth Classic, to be played on Aug. 1, 4:30 p.m., at the home of the 49ers–Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to coach at Levi’s Stadium,” said Perry, who makes his sixth trip to the Wedemeyer Game–once as a player, four times as an assistant coach and now as a head coach.
Messina makes his Wedemeyer debut, and looks forward walking out of the tunnel and onto the field where the heroes of his youth now play.
“I grew up in Redwood City near the old [49ers’] training facility, so I’ve been with them through good years and bad,” he said. And now he’ll be coaching football on their turf, and he’s happy to be there.
“The Niners have been great,” he added, “and [coach] Jim Tomsula has really reached out to us.”
But beyond the venue, both Perry and Messina are happy to lead a couple of talented all-star teams into Saturday’s game.
“Narrowing it down to 45 players was a tough job, but the kids we have are fun to be with, and they’ve been meshing together,” said Perry of his South crew. “We’ve had five solid practices so far, and haven’t had any issues with attendance. This is a good group of guys.”
Still, as pleased as he is with his own group, he’s also impressed with the players on the North side.
Tough match-up
“They’re really solid,” he said. “They’re got some really good players, and they’ll have a size advantage on us.”
They certainly will in the defensive line, where Messina figures to get plenty of playing time from Jonathan Herrera (6-foot-3, 270 pounds) and Jonathan Pohahau (6-1, 250) of Wilcox, Tevita Musika (6-1, 305) and Solomon Foketi (6-2, 250) of Milpitas and his own Fremont all-stars, Afa Prescott (6-4, 290) and Sam Kanongata’a (6-3, 250).
Prescott is also expected to see double-time on the offensive line, cutting holes for the likes of Kyle Alves of San Jose High.
“When we started, there were a couple of guys we didn’t really know,” said Messina, referring to Alves and King’s Academy quarterback Dominic Sabel.
“When we first saw Alves, we said, ‘Wow, this guy is really good,’ ” said Messina.
He added that Sabel is a traditional, pro-style quarterback who figures to lead the offense along with Aaron Tillak of Piedmont Hills.
“Tillak single-handedly beat us in the playoffs,” said Messina of Tillak, who the coach plans to use in the wildcat.
“We’ll try both of these styles and see what sticks,” added the coach, referring to Sabel in the traditional offense and Tillak in the wildcat.
The South will counter with a stable of talented quarterbacks, including Dru Brown of Los Gatos, Zach Silva of Pioneer, Luke Morin of Branham and Mike Machado of Valley Christian. The four combined to complete 472 passes for 7,274 yards and 84 touchdowns in the 2014 season.
Kevin Cance of Leland, who was the co-Most Outstanding Offensive Back with Silva in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League last fall, is another quarterback on the squad, but he figures to move to wide receiver and will handle the kicking chores for the South.
Messina is looking forward to take his North team into battle against a South squad that could boast a high-powered offense.
“We plan to challenge them with X’s and O’s, challenge them physically and see what happens,” he said. “This group is pretty easy to coach. They know they’re all there for a reason.”
Coaches were ‘stars
The reason, of course, is that they were among the best high school players in the valley last fall–just as their coaches were back in the summer of 1990.
Messina, a defensive tackle for Sequoia High School in Redwood City, played in now defunct Rotary All-Star Classic at the College of San Mateo.
“It was pretty small potatoes compared to this game,” he recalled, “but it was good. It was good to meet guys and play with guys you had played against.”
Perry agrees.
“It was second to none,” he said of the experience. “When I was at Pioneer, football was not a big-time sport there. To be picked was really cool, and I was lucky enough to play in the game.”
“We were supposed to get killed,” he added. “They had [Joel Tyrus of Milpitas] and [Ryan Hancock of Monta Vista], both premier athletes. But we ended up killing ’em 43-3.”
One of the best parts of playing in the all-star games, though, was making friendships that would last a lifetime–something both Messina and Perry hope their players will be able to take from this summer’s game.
“I met two guys who are still my very good friends: T.J. Ewing [of Aragon] who is now the coach at Monterey Trail, and Matt McGinn [of Capuchino], who is now the offensive line coach at Palo Alto and was head coach at Gunn,” said Messina.
“Playing in the game was a really good experience,” added Perry, “and I made some really good friends.” Among them was Steve Papin of Piedmont Hills, who he would go on to play alongside at West Valley College.
“That’s when friendship started,” he said.
Wedemeyer legacy
Just a year before Perry played in the summer classic, the game took on the name of Charlie Wedemeyer, the Los Gatos football coach stricken with Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Wedemeyer joined Dave Brown of Archbishop Mitty as the co-head coach for the North team in the 1985 Silicon Valley Youth Classic–a game won by the South 36-21. He would go on to lead the Wildcats to the Central Coast Section championship that fall with a 14-12 win over St. Francis.
That would be the final game as a varsity football coach. He ended his career with a 78-18-1 record (an .804 winning percentage), five league championships and the one CCS crown.
By 1989, the Silicon Valley Youth Classic would take on Wedemeyer’s name, and for many years Charlie–in his wheelchair with his dedicated and lovely wife Lucy at his side–would greet the players from each team at midfield as they were introduced before each game. Despite his passing on June 3, 2010, that tradition continues each year with Lucy still greeting players at the game named for her late husband.
A game that brings together two coaches who have very much in common.
