The Bob Sands Memorial Bucks County Lions All-Star Football Classic finally was held at War Memorial field in Doylestown, PA after being re-scheduled twice due to weather. This Monday, June 13th the North county all-stars battled the South county all-stars for the 36th annual charity football game trophy.
The game was well worth the wait, as it was an offensive shootout many football fans missed since the end of the high school season. Coach Brian Hensil from CB West led the North team while Coach Jim Gober led the South all-star squad.
The first half of this contest would be a close affair however, even with the North side coming out with the early advantage. After CB West’s Ward Udinski’s opening 41-yard pass to Quakertown wide receiver Nick Perrine, the North side utilized CB West’s shifty Rashaad Williams as he scored the first touchdown of the game from two yards out to make the score 7-0 in favor of the North.
After another South drive stalled, CB East’s Justyn White converted a key fourth and one to the enemy 34-yard line. Ward Udinski followed soon after with a five yard touchdown pass to Sean Cain from Archbishop Wood High School to make the score 14-0 with 3:56 left in the first quarter.
Into the second quarter, South started their own scoring attack, as Morrisville quarterback Matt Cookson started a second straight possession. After Pennsbury running back Brandon Pepper passed to wide receiver Dwight Williams, the eventual South MVP of the game, Cookson was able to drive his team down to the goal line. The quarterback then rushed into the end zone and after a missed extra point, the score stood at 14-6.
Yet the North all-stars responded as Udinski stormed down the field into South territory. After South linebacker Tyler Masterson (Neshaminy) sacked Udinski, the signal caller threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Quakertown’s Perrine to make to score 21-6.
With the half winding down, Udinski’s hot streak cooled off when he threw an interception to Pennsbury’s Terry Russell, who returned the ball to the North 25-yard line. On a 4th and 10 with 7.8 seconds remainingg, Cookson fired a touchdown into the end zone to Dwight Williams. With the two point conversion, the score was 21-14 at half time.
The War Memorial shootout was on, with already an estimated 37 passes combined on both sides. But the stars of the day would take over, as quarterback Udinski and running back Rashaad Williams helped the North side outscore the South side 28-14 in the second half. The North would take the all-star game by a score of 49-28.
CB West’s Rashaad Williams was truly a close out runner and exemplified his blazing speed while breaking several tackles. The North runner scored on a 20-yard play where he dashed to the left, dodged around two tacklers and sprinted beyond the grasp of at least three more for the touchdown. He will attend Valley Forge College next season and look to play football elsewhere.
Williams scored his third touchdown by simply outrunning the competition for a 62-yard score with 9:38 left in the 4thquarter to put the game away at 42-28.
Wide receivers Perrine and Cain caught two touchdowns in the first half, and followed with another two touchdowns each in the second half. After a tough stretch of possessions, Udinski completed touchdowns of five and 20 yards to Cain and Perrine, respectively. Perrine himself had over 100 yards receiving on the day.
The North’s quarterback would be the eventual game MVP as he passed for 302 yards and threw four touchdowns. After the last high school game of his career, Udinski credited his teammates. He will be headed to Juniata College next year.
Udinski explained, “I was just letting my receivers make plays. I had a lot of playmakers around me so I was just trying to get them the ball and work the field.”
Coach Brian Hensil had high praise for his quarterback after the contest, saying, “I have known (Ward) since before he came to West, and he’s a winner. He carries himself well, he doesn’t let mistakes get him down, he builds on the successes of others, and that’s the kind of guy you want anchoring your team.”
The North coach further explained the offensive explosion from both sides of the field. “My staff and I were really looking forward to having out guys one last time. We were really blessed with the senior group that we had. There were so many weapons to choose from. We had a bevy of receivers who could stretch the field and catch the ball.”
The South side attempted a late third quarter comeback, and at one point was within a touchdown of the North lead. Because of competition rules during the charity game, if the losing team was down by more than seven points in the fourth quarter, they would continue to get the ball on kick-offs.
Thus, after South’s Brandon Pepper threw an option play touchdown to Council Rock South wide-out Dennis Chichkin, Pepper followed with a one yard score to cut the North lead to 35-28 after a missed South extra point. But Rashaad Williams followed with his 62-yard touchdown run, and South would not be able to score in the remaining nine minutes of the game.
In all, the contest was a fun offensive affair all in the name of charity. The game was hosted by the Bucks County Lions, who have directed the event at War Memorial for the past three years. The North Coordinator was CB East head coach Larry Greene, while South’s coordinator was former head coach Mike Clarke from Morrisville. Reportedly (according to buckslocalnews.com) the event has raised more than 400,000 in funds in previous years devoted to charities such as the Bucks County Associations for the Blind and the Lions Camp Kirby for the Hearing Impaired.
