Sonoma Valley football senior stars play their last game

One of the North Bay’s best-kept sports secrets happened this weekend, when an all-star game of high school football players took place Saturday, Jan. 12, at Petaluma High School’s Ellison Field.

The sixth annual Tri-County All Star Game included top athletes from Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties – including three from Sonoma Valley High. The teams were comprised of senior athletes named to their respective league All Star teams, split into two teams – a Gray Team and a White Team.

Andrew Beatty, Tyler Winslow and Gavin Lehane represented Dragons football for the White team. Beatty was both an offense and defensive first-team selection in the Vine Valley Association League, and Winslow was on the defensive line-up. Lehane was a second-team selection on both offense and defense.

All three are seniors at Sonoma Valley High, so the game marked their last chance to play together on the gridiron.

The final result give the Grays a 35-7 victory over the Whites.

For Winslow, participating in the game was a tough choice: an all-state wrestler as well as the anchor of the Dragon defense, Winslow chose to play in the Tri-County game instead of compete in the Deets Winslow Memorial Wrestling Tournament held the same day at Sonoma Valley High. The tournament was named for his father, a longtime SVHS wrestling coach.

The Tri-County All Star game is in its seventh year; the seniors-only event was created to bring awareness to the 500,000 kids in foster care nationwide, of which there are about 1200 kids from Napa, Marin and Sonoma in the system . For more information, visit tricountyallstargame.com.