On Saturday June 13, 2026, the 3rd annual Merced County All-Star Classic flag football game took place at Veterans Stadium in Merced. High school athletes from across the central valley got a chance to showcase their talent against the best in the area.
Each year, each team selects their All-Star athletes to represent their schools in the All-Star Game. The athletes are divided into a Blue Team and Gold Team based on their school’s location. The Blue team was represented by Livingston, Ceres, Delhi, Pitman, Orestimba, Turlock, Hilmar, Gustine, Pacheco, Patterson, Los Banos, and Central Valley High School. The Gold team was represented by Buhach Colony, El Capitan, Sonora, Atwater, Merced, Golden Valley, Mariposa, Dos Palos, Madera South, and Torres High School.
The first big moment of the game occurred during the 1st quarter as Patterson quarterback Reagan Allard of the Blue Team delivered a spiral downfield to Siena Freitas of Los Banos, who was able to secure the pass off a deflection and score a touchdown. During the second quarter, the Blue Team once again found the endzone. This time, Allard rolled to the outside under heavy pressure before dumping a short pass to Isabel Fuentes of Pitman High for the touchdown, making the score 12-0. However, with just over a minute left in the first half, the Gold Team struck back when Merced’s Antonia Lejarde tossed a short pass to Buhach Colony’s Emily Gallegos, who sprinted to the sidelines, evaded a defender, and jolted down the field to score the first touchdown of the day for the Gold Team.
After the extra point, the score was 12-7, Blue Team. However, a quick three-and-out by the Blue Team, followed by a couple big plays and some clutch timeouts from the Gold Team, allowed the Gold Team one more crack at the endzone before halftime. From the two-yard line, with four seconds remaining, quarterback Antonia Lejarde faked a sweep and called her own number as she sprinted up field and extended the ball over the endzone as time expired. After the extra point, the Gold Team went to halftime with a 14-12 lead.
As the second half kicked off, the Blue Team took possession and marched down the field before regaining the lead with another short touchdown pass to Ceres player Lily Stagg. The extra point failed, but the Blue Team regained the lead 18-14. Before the end of the third quarter, they were able to extend their lead after Allard found another wide receiver, Turlock’s Makenli Watt, who caught a pass over the middle and raced to the endzone to extend the Blue Team lead to 24-14 at the end of the third quarter.
In the 4th quarter, the Gold Team got back in the endzone when Lejarde unleashed a deep pass to the sidelines and found an open Averie Steverson of Merced, who beat the coverage and caught the touchdown pass that narrowed the lead to just 3 points. With the Blue Team clinching a three-point lead, both teams worked hard to pick up their pace. However, with just a couple minutes remaining, the Gold Team turned the ball over on downs. After a couple first down plays, the Blue Team was able to run the clock out for the victory. The final score of the game was 24-21 Blue Team.
After the game, the Player of the Game awards were awarded to two outstanding players, one from each team. On Team Gold, Averie Steverson was awarded Player of the Game, and for Team Blue Imelda Beltran-Pelayo was awarded Player of the Game.
After the game, Steverson spoke about her experience playing in this game. “We had a good time, and I bonded with all the girls really well.” She also spoke on her highlights of the experiences “I think it was a great experience and I’m really happy to be here…winning Player of the Game was really big.”
“It feels amazing to come out here because every time we come, we give it our best, the coaches are awesome and overall, we have a great time,” said Beltran-Pelayo after the game. “At first, we were all a little nervous, but once we started talking and getting to know each other, we connected. I think that Bond was a big part of how we played today.”
- Photos by Yoanna Morales. ↩︎
