When he pulled off his helmet at the end of the 29th Annual Rotary North/South All-Star football game last Friday night at Golden West High School in Merced, Yosemite High's Kyle Lincoln knew his high school football career had officially ended.

"It was a little weird knowing I was in my last football game," Lincoln said. "But now that it's over, those tough workouts, practices and all the hard work now turn into great memories I will have for the rest of my life. I'm looking forward to a whole new experience in the fall majoring in business administration at Fresno State."

The 6-foot, 2-inch, 195-pound Lincoln played offensive right guard most of the game for the South who were defeated by the North squad 40-3. The 40 points scored by the North set a record for most points scored by a team in the history of the all-star game.

"I would have liked to seen the score a little closer but our offense had trouble moving the ball," Lincoln said. "Falling behind early in the game, we tried to pass a lot and just were not very efficient."

Lincoln said the score of the game is not what the game is about.

"The game is about going out and having fun and I did that and was glad I was selected to play in the game," Lincoln said.

Lincoln was named to the North Sequoia League All-League first team lineman on offense and defense and was named Co-Lineman of the Year for the league..

In addition to football, Lincoln finished the wrestling season with a 35-3 record and ranked in the top 12 in the state in his weight class. His only losses were to the first and second place wrestlers in the state -- Robert Marchese of Oak Hills and Dakota Gordon (twice) of Clovis High respectfully.

He was named to the Fresno Bee's second team All Valley All-Star team in wrestling and was named Male Athlete of the Year at Yosemite High by varsity coaches along with being named Sierra Star's Male Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Lincoln was the only Badger this year to be selected to both the North/South and City/County All-Star football games. His father, YHS varsity football and wrestling coach Kent Lincoln, played in the N/S game in 1988.

Past Yosemite High School North/South All-Stars

Yosemite High School has been represented in the North/South All-Star game by 64 players in 29 years.

1984: None
1985 - Darin Twamley, Butch Crawford, Randy Culver, John Smith
1986 - Tim Kuykendall, Skip Briner (Steve Raupp coach)
1987 - Charlie Chassey, Pat Lynch
1988 - Brian Schiller, Kent Lincoln
1989 - Caleb Roope, Greg Hill
1990 - Jason Boomer, Jacob Pelzl
1991 - Don Krapp, Robin Mathews, Bonner Cunnings
1992 - Gene Topping, Mike King
1993 - Vic Mendez, Dennis Forleo
1994 - Stan Simmons, Phil Branstetter, Bret Supernaw, Tony Thomas, Danny Falot (Matt Mohulski, Pat Lynch, Kent Lincoln coaches)
1995 - Micah Reed, Jason Kissee, Earl Satterfield
1996 - JD Clevenger, Chris O'Neil
1997 - None
1998 - Wes Thomas
1999 - Richard Brechbuehl, John Philbin
2000 - Chad White
2001 - Roosevelt Cooks
2002 - Karl Ressler, Greg Montgomery, Justin Peek
2003 - Daniel Reagan, Jon Garcia, Daniel Talbot
2004 - Fred Worstein
2005 - Alec Campbell, T.J. Grijalva, Kenin Rose, Robbie Sotelo
2006 - John Blea, Steve Rasmussen, Aaron Wilkins, Tyler Riest
2007 - Brad Wilkinson, Josh Nunes
2008 - Shane Hackworth, Shane Williams, Josiah Stansbury
2009 - Jesse Lownsbury, Jayme Lee, Greg Smith
2010 - Pete Mascola, Garrett Yoder, Detri Dunn
2011 - Grant Hendrickson
2012 - Kyle Lincoln

Game history

In 1984 the Avenal Rotary Club, at the suggestion of Bob Green, game director, decided to start a football All-Star game for the smaller high schools in the Central Valley. It was called the "North/South Rotary Football All-Star Game with 13 high schools represented on each side. The game was played at Avenal High before more than 1,000 fans and at West Hills Junior College before 2,000 fans in 1985.

The game was moved to Chowchilla in 1986. That year 14 high school were represented on each side. This year, 104 players representing 52 high schools participated in the game and 35 Rotary clubs in the Central Valley participated with sponsorships, according to Green.

Friday's game was played before 2,800 fans.

"Over the years, student athletes from 50 different high schools have earned the All-Star title," Green said. "The game is a fundraiser, but more than that, it is a chance to highlight and acknowledge the talented students who live in the Valley. The proceeds raised from this premier event have funded a total of 157 $1,000 scholarships since 1992."