It’s not often that a player from an Upvalley team gets to play at Napa’s Memorial Stadium, but St. Helena High offensive and defensive tackle Ivan Ramirez will have an opportunity to do just that on Saturday night for the 34th annual East-West Charity All-Star Football Classic, which begins at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s a great field,” said Ramirez, who is the Saints’ lone representative.

“I’ve watched football from there but I’ve never actually stepped on the field.”

The event, co-sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Greater Napa and the Vallejo Police Activities League, features the top players from Napa, Solano and Yolo counties and benefits local charities.

The West team features 2006 graduates of Napa, Vintage, Justin-Siena, St. Helena, Vallejo, Bethel, Hogan, John Swett-Crockett, North Hills Christian, Benicia and St. Patrick’s.

The Vintage High coaching staff, led by Les Franco, are the West squad’s coaches.

Ramirez has helped the Saints go 14-7 in head coach Ian MacMillan’s two seasons. If history means anything, Ramirez has a good chance of ending his career on a high note, as Franco-coached teams are 4-0 in All-Star games.

Ramirez will attending Delta Community College in Stockton in the fall, where he plans to wrestle.

St. Helena wrestling coach Herschel Sandler’s brother, Mike, coaches there.

“I’m just going to give it my all,” Ramirez said after a recent practice at Justin-Siena High. “There’s no explaining how much I want to give it my all for St. Helena. It’s my school.”

Ramirez earned Honorable Mention status for the All-Napa County football team last season as he recorded 64 tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery on the final drive to help the Saints secure a 28-21 win at Fort Bragg last September.

As an offensive tackle, Ramirez helped the Saints total 2,641 rushing yards.

Franco’s offense at Vintage is the triple-option, while the Saints run the split-back veer.

“You learn their offense, which is similar to ours,” Ramirez said.

“It’s easy to pick it up. It’s pretty much the same plays. They just have different names. It’s a little bit of a different blocking scheme but it’s pretty similar.”

One thing that should not take any getting used to for Ramirez is the commitment level that the coach asks.

After a recent practice, Franco told the players under no uncertain terms that blowing off practice for unexcused reasons would not be acceptable.

MacMillan and Sandler are much the same way in their approach in terms of emphasizing a strong work ethic.

“Coach MacMillan is the same way, except he doesn’t give one practice to miss for no reason at all,” Ramirez said.

“You just give it your all no matter how much bigger they are. I’ve been working out on my own. I’m ready for this.”