It was more like track meet than an all-star football game Saturday night in Schuylkill Haven. The South All-Stars set the tempo most of the night with a 9 play, 75-yard scoring drive to open the scoring at 7-0.
The South wouldn’t look back from there, as the South All-Stars defeated the North All-Stars, 44-15, in the Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association All-Star Football Classic at Schuylkill Haven’s Rotary Field.
South Head coach Mike Farr (Schuylkill Haven) employed the Wing-T offense using his own running back Evan Fink (120 yards, 18 carries) along with Blue Mountain’s Frank Gaffney (6 carries, 59 yards) to lead the team. Gaffney earned the Most Outstanding Player award with 2 touchdowns and nearly scoring another one on an interception return.
Gaffney scored his 2nd touchdown of the game on a 2 yard TD run, then Williams Valley’s Brent Wolfe continued the South scoring with a 50 yard fumble recovery for a TD, with 3:30 left in the first half. South lead 28-0.
The North’s Most Outstanding Player, Zach Hogan (North Schuylkill), got the North on the board with a 95 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, that trimmed the South lead to 28-7.
After Pine Grove’s Zach Blouch 24-yard field goal, Blouch’s former teammate Carl Hoover recovered a fumble in the endzone for a 38-7 lead. Schuylkill Haven’s Jon Nettles help set up the touchdown punting the ball to the North 3 yard line.
North’s other touchdown came via an 80-yard touchdown reception by Marian Catholic’s Joe Kloap from North Schuylkill’s Tom Ferrari. A two point conversion made the score 38-15 but thats closest the North would get.
Tri-Valley’s quarterback Matt McGinley closed the scoring on the game with a 1 yard TD run. McGinley went 5-7, for 47 yards.
The South finished the game with 291 yards rushing on 45 carries.
