Tracy and West football players had one more opportunity to take to the gridiron as high school players Saturday, this time with their former rivals as teammates.

The 36th annual Lions All-Star Football game put players from the North, mostly from San Joaquin County and the adjacent foothills, against the South, with players from Stanislaus and Merced counties.

The South’s 19-3 win broke a six-game losing streak, with Central Valley High quarterback Trevor Mew, the game’s most valuable player, throwing three touchdown passes. North’s only score came from a field goal in the second quarter.

Though they didn’t get the win, the local players on the North team had a chance to become teammates with longtime rivals. Tracy High quarterback Preston Mattos traded off quarterback duties with McNair’s Pierce DeLuna, and West High linebacker Jeff Carter got in some hard hits on defense, including a sack on Mew in the first quarter.

“I hate losing, but I had a blast,” Carter said. “I got into little scuffles a couple times in there, too. I really liked the intensity of the game.”

Carter added that with the best players from each team training together, he was glad to see that clashes between egos didn’t take over at practice.

“I was surprised at how close I got with the guys in a few days,” he said.

The game wrapped up a week filled with drills and the aforementioned camaraderie.

West High’s Carter and Michael Thornton represented the Wolf Pack, and Tracy players included Mattos and linemen Scott Adams and Daniel Colli. Other players on the North team came from the San Joaquin Athletic Association and the Tri-City Athletic League, and the coaches were from McNair High.

“We bonded with them all quick,” Mattos said. “We made a lot of friends through the week. With three practices a day and getting to hang out with them and talk to them, we learned a lot.”

After six straight years with the North team as the winner, the South relied on Mew’s throwing arm to take an early lead and keep the momentum all night.

The South took the lead with five minutes, seven seconds left in the first quarter when Mew passed to Buhach Colony’s Hodari Peterson. The North got on the scoreboard with 1:14 left in the second quarter on a field goal from Dakota Anderson of East Union High.

But the South widened its advantage in the third quarter as Mew completed a touchdown pass to Patterson’s Ronyea Ellington. The point-after made it 13-3.

With 7:23 left in the fourth quarter, Mew again connected, this time with Enochs’ Boomer Green for an 80-yard pass play that put South up 19-3.