READING – The West All-Stars were down by six at halftime but came from behind to win 14-13 in the 10th annual Berks County All-Star Football Classic Sunday afternoon at Albright College’s Shirk Stadium.
It took two plays by the East All-Stars to score the first touchdown of the game. Matt Young of Schuylkill Valley hit Vaughn Carraway of Muhlenberg for an 81-yard touchdown pass. Matt Modrick of Schuylkill Valley added the extra point and gave the East All-Stars a 7-0 lead.
The West All-Stars got a gift when the East All-Stars fumbled the ball on their 2-yard line. George Schmidt of Governor Mifflin’s big hit forced this turnover and Sam Eagleson of Governor Mifflin recovered the ball. A couple of plays later Schmidt bull dozed his way in for the two-yard run. With that score, the game was tied up at seven.
The East All-Stars showed their team speed when Francis Camara of Reading took the handoff and sprinted 65-yards for a touchdown run. Maybe the biggest play of the game came when Modrick’s extra point was blocked by Saeed Khateeb of Daniel Boone. The East All-Stars led 13-7. Khateed said “After that play we just took over and did our thing”.
While the East All-Stars came up with flashy plays the West All-Stars came up with the big plays. At halftime the East All-Stars led 13-7.
The only score in the second half came in the third quarter. The West All-Stars used short plays in a drive that took eight minutes and 13 plays. Schmidt would get his second score of the game on the go ahead two-yard touchdown run giving the West All-Stars the lead 14-13.
Schmidt set the tone on both sides of the ball. Schmidt said “They had the speed we just had to hit them hard first and that is what we did”. Schmidt led his team with two touchdowns.
It may have been Schmidt’s final two-yard touchdown run that deflated the East All-Stars the most. The West defense picked up their intense defense as the East All-Stars could not complete a pass in the final 14 minutes of the game. Turnovers by the East All-Stars hurt them in the second half.
It was fitting that the game would end with a defensive play by the West All-Stars. Young threw the ball up for grabs. It went off Eagleson’s hands and right into Josey Orr’s hands for the interception. Orr would take the ball down to the East 35 yard line as time ran out. The West All-Stars came out with the hard fought 14-13 victory.
