He knew Machado had been named coach of the South team for the upcoming Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football Game, and he knew Machado had good news.

"We've selected you to play in it," the first-team all-league offensive lineman recalled hearing during their Feb. 29 conversation. "It was an unbelievable feeling. I was looking forward to that moment my whole life."

Gonzales will take the field July 15 at San Jose State's Spartan Stadium for the 35th annual Silicon Valley Youth Classic, a game his father, Raymond Gonzales Jr., played in 32 years ago.

"It's a big deal," Ray said Wednesday after his first All-Star practice at Valley Christian High School. "I've always wanted to play in this game since I was a kid. It's been my dream and, finally, it's coming true."

It is a moment Ray will get to share with teammates Jamie Jensen, Dante Fullard, Richie Sotelo and Tony Travis, a decorated group of seniors that helped guide the Mustangs (9-2) to a second straight Tri County Athletic League title in the fall.

All five will play in junior college next year.

"This was a very big group," said Gilroy first-year coach Greg Garcia, who was a defensive coordinator and assistant coach for the Mustangs before taking over the program in winter. "I've been blessed to coach them. I can't say enough about them."

Their accolades should suffice. Each player was an all-league selection, with Jensen (quarterback) making the second-team all-league list and Fullard (wide receiver) earning TCAL Co-Athlete of the Year honors. Sotelo, who joined Travis as an all-league defensive back, will double at receiver for the All-Star Game.

"I don't care where they put me," Sotelo said. "I just want to get out there and play. I've seen some of my old teammates play in this game, so it's special to me."

Gonzales is the South's only listed center.

"They're going to be great assets for us," Machado said. "They're competitors; they like to compete, which I like a lot. They're big-play type guys."

Naturally, they have felt at home playing with Silicon Valley's best.

"It's nice having a lot of guys from Gilroy. As competitors, we respect each other and the other guys on the team, too," said Jensen, who is in the hunt for the starting job at San Francisco Community College. "There's a lot of pressure for me and for all of us. It's an All-Star game; you want to be able to show off and show your skills."

Considering the mutual success he and Sotelo had with Jensen in 2008, Fullard said it was a tribute that all three made the team.

"If I didn't have a quarterback like Jamie, my numbers would have been cut in half," said Fullard, who received 1,209 of Jensen's 2,902 passing yards in the fall. "We made each other."

After covering the likes of Fullard and Sotelo in practice his entire career, Travis had no trouble adjusting Wednesday.

"It's fun going against the best of the best," he said. "It wasn't hard getting over playing them in the past. They're on my team now; you got to let it go. We're trying to beat those boys from the North now."