Burbank’s Bailey with the block (twice) to lead South over North in Optimist Football
Levelle Bailey plays two sports because he insists it’s the thing to do.
He especially likes to strap on football gear and make plays, turn heads and turn games. The Burbank High School senior earned Bee All-Metro honors for his versatility as a quarterback and linebacker, and Bailey’s good grades and character sealed a scholarship with Fresno State.
Bailey wore his Burbank helmet one final time Saturday afternoon at Sacramento State, and his two blocked kicks proved paramount that effort always counts.
The South beat the North 24-21 in the 61st Optimist All-Star Football Classic in ideal conditions after a week of pounding wind and rain left coaches wondering just how sharp their teams might be. Turns out, sharp enough, including Bailey, who knows one speed: frenetic.
He blocked a field goal late in the second quarter that set up an 18-yard touchdown from River Valley’s Dawson McPeak to Folsom’s Parker Clayton for a 21-11 South lead. And as time ran out, Bailey had enough energy in his tiring legs to block a 37-yard field-goal attempt by Ryan Whalley of Del Oro, one of the great kickers in regional history.
Bailey’s South teammates chased him into the end zone to celebrate. Then, the teams took a knee at midfield, a group united, to talk about the game and significance of raising funds for charity, including Camp Relles and local Shriner’s Hospitals for Children.
“I try to be relentless on defense, on special teams, to make plays,” Bailey said. “Just play hard.”
Kenyon Bowyer of Capital Christian delivered a booming 37-yard field goal to give the South the 24-21 lead with 2:54 left in perhaps the best game of dueling kickers in the Optimist’s storied history.
The teams had just seven practice days to crash course, but the enthusiasm was clear in practice and on Saturday. It officially capped perhaps the best season in regional prep football, one that saw Folsom repeat as CIF State Division 1-AA champion, Rio Linda win it in Division 5-AA and Del Oro and Colfax lose heartbreakers in state finals.
The Optimist game is a showcase for senior area stars, dating to the first contest in 1957. It remains a big deal, though it has become rare for college-committed players to accept invites for fear of injury or because their college coaches insist they don’t chance it.
Bailey, McPeak, Jesuit tight end Connor McIntee and Oak Ridge lineman Zac Welch were the only full scholarship committed players to compete in this game. McPeak is headed to Northern Arizona of the Big Sky Conference that includes UC Davis and Sac State as rivals. McIntee is off to Air Force, and Welch will play at Nevada.
Said Bailey, “I wasn’t sure if I’d play in this game, but I went to the first meeting and saw all the guys who were playing and knew I’d play. I’m so glad I did.”
The game also pitted decades-old friends against each other in Max Miller, a 264-game winner, mostly from his Cordova days, ending in 2007, and John Volek, the one-time Sac State head coach.
The coaches spent the week inspiring their players and ribbing each other, two boys who grew up in the foothills and still compete as if every first down and every stop matters, and vowing to beat the other guy silly.
The coaches promised their wives years ago they would not coach again, worried the stress would send them to early graves, though all-star games afforded them wiggle room.
Volek was able to coach his grandson, Cade Brownholtz of Jesuit, a two-time Bee All-Metro defensive end/linebacker. Brownholtz made crunching tackles and recovered a fumble. He will take a recruiting trip to Oregon State this week.
Whalley didn’t get his last prep field goal to go, thanks to the extended arm of Bailey, but he does bow out with a record. His 45-yard field goal in the third that pulled the North to within 21-14 is the longest in Optimist history, bettering the mark of 42 by San Juan’s Billy McBroom in 1989.
Whalley hammered a 53-yard field goal to beat Lincoln on the final play of a 2017 playoff game. On Saturday, he hit a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter, and on the final play of the first half, he just missed a 58-yarder.
Tommy Turner of Lincoln hit Trey Jones of Capital Christian for a 21-yard touchdown to open the South scoring. McPeak had an 80-yard touchdown pass to D’Marcus Ross of Capital Christian for the South for a 14-3 lead.
The Optimist record for longest pass play is 81 from Folsom’s Damian Swank to Del Oro’s Andrew Floor in 1995.
Cade Wyant of Rocklin had a 17-yard scoring pass to McIntee and passed for 201 yards. His father, Drew, was a quarterback for Sac State in the late 1980s.
And sticking to the Placer County theme, Jacob Ellis of Granite Bay returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown for the North to tie it at 21 with 5 minutes to play. For the South, Cade Cunningham of Jesuit and Tyrell Smith of Sheldon each had fourth-quarter interceptions.
Miller joked before the game that even old salts can learn new tricks. Miller won a ton with power running, but he has since embraced the spread offense with receivers all over the field. This is a man who has also learned to text.
But the game still comes down to blocking and tackling, and special-teams play.
“It’s still football,” Miller said.
Follow The Bee’s Joe Davidson: jdavidson@sacbee.com, @SacBee_JoeD, sacbee.com/high-school.
This story was originally published January 19, 2019 at 5:37 PM.