Alumni Game: De La Salle versus St. Thomas Aquinas

From Michael Irvin to Maurice Jones-Drew to Brian Piccolo to Amani Toomer, this one is a barnburner. The big question is will the real game live up to the alumni game?

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Mitch Stephens
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Sep 23, 2011, 7:13am
ROUND 2: Running backs

De La Salle

Starters: Maurice Jones-Drew (2003, UCLA, NFL Jaguars), D.J. Williams (2000, Miami, NFL Broncos).

Maurice Jones-Drew.
Maurice Jones-Drew.
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Impact starters and Pro Bowl players in the NFL.

Reserves: Patrick Walsh (1993, San Jose State), Leon Callen (1996, Arizona).

The Spartans boast at least a half-dozen others who had major high school careers and earned college scholarships, including Terron Ward, a current redshirt freshman at Oregon State.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Starters: Brian Piccolo (1962, Wake Forest, NFL Bears), Tony Sands (1988, Kansas, NFL Cardinals).

Probably the most famous figure in the bunch following his death in 1970 that inspired the movie "Brian's Song," Piccolo was a great college player. He led the nation in rushing as a senior at Wake Forest. Sands set single-game records at Kansas in yards (396) and carries, a staggering 58 of them.

Reserves: James White (2010, Wisconsin), Gio Bernard (2010, North Carolina).

White rushed for 2,568 yards and 38 TDs in high school and then immediately ran for 1,052 at Wisconsin as a true freshman. Keith Wilkerson (1993, Ohio State) was an All-American on Aquinas' 1992 team but did little in college.

DE LA SALLE 10, ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 9: Jones-Drew and Williams will likely wind up as the program's most famous and accomplished football players. (Total: DLS 20, STA 19).

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