ORANGE COUNTY NORTH-SOUTH ALL-STAR FOOTBALL GAME:

Carlo Valdes has been to the game before. Ben Tauanuu has too.

The site is only a five-minute drive from their house. Yet, both came to Orange Coast College in the past as spectators, never in full uniform, just a jersey.

Tonight the locals will be at OCC as players in the 49th edition of the Orange County North-South All-Star Football Game.

When the two recent Mater Dei High graduates take the field for the South team before the 7:15 p.m. game, it will mark the end of their successful high school football careers.

It’s one last time playing together, one last time competing so close to home.

UCLA isn’t too far from Newport Beach, where Valdes, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound wide receiver, calls home.

Montana State is faraway from Costa Mesa, where Tauanuu, a 6-5, 300-pound tackle, grew up.

Those are the schools Valdes and Tauanuu, respectively, plan to attend and play football for next fall.

Valdes can’t wait to make a name for himself in a program with a new coaching staff in Westwood.

Tauanuu isn’t quite ready to make the move to Bozeman just yet.

“It gets really cold in Montana,” Tauanuu said. “I’m trying to enjoy the beach weather as long as I possibly can. I have to be in Bozeman by July 28 and I’m making the most of every day because I won’t be around my family for too long.

“My family means everything to me.”

The Tauanuus will be in full force tonight. So will the Valdes family.

Try 20 deep for each player. And Tauanuu and Valdes plan to go out on a bang by leading South to a win and making their families proud.

They’ll have help from two other recent local graduates, linebacker Erik Rask of Corona Del Mar and defensive lineman Chase Obenauer of Newport Harbor.

The locals have prepared in recent weeks, 10 practices in all. Plenty of time for the four to introduce themselves and unite for one common goal: beat North.

“He’s a really cool guy, a leader,” Tauanuu said of Rask, the Pacific Coast League Defensive Player of the Year headed for the University of Pennsylvania. “Everyone has been getting along. During this short time we’ve become a team.

“Everyone is saying North is the favorite, but we’re going to put up a fight.”

Valdes is ready. He was in attendance last year, when the North won, 22-10, in front of 7,300 fans. Special teams played a vital role in North’s success.

Valdes thinks this year’s game, which will be televised on ESPNU on July 26 at 6 p.m. and July 28 at 1 p.m., will be decided through the air.

“They have a height advantage at wide receiver,” said Valdes, who finished with 41 receptions for 786 yards and six touchdowns at Mater Dei. “But we can make plays at receiver as well. I can really get behind [defensive backs] and be a scoring threat.

“With so many fans expected to come to the game and ESPNU broadcasting it, I would love to find the end zone.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.