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Lions All-Star football
The North jumped out to a 14-0 first half and held off a late rally by the South to win, 17-12, in the 32nd edition of the annual game held at North Tonawanda High School last Wednesday. The South had won six of the previous seven meetings, including the last three. The South still leads the overall series, 19-13. "We had only four kids that won their last high school game so it was a way to give everyone a final victory," said North coach Kraig Kurzanski, coach at Williamsville South. "We've been practicing for the past two weeks for the sole purpose to come out and end the streak," added North defensive MVP John Greer, a graduate of St. Joe's who is headed to the University of New Hampshire to play free safety.
"We gained 12 yards on the play and it prevented them from scoring," said Kurzanski. "It was a great individual effort." "We were our own worst enemy," said South coach Jim Maurino (West Seneca East). "Turnovers and a couple of bad breaks were too much to overcome." The North offense set the tone early, chewing up seven minutes on its first possession, an 11-play, 82-yard drive that was culminated by a 10-yard touchdown run from Andre Hakeem (Amherst Central). Hakeem took an option pitch from North quarterback Scott Gregson (North Tonawanda) and beat out two South defenders to the right corner of the end zone. North continued dominating time of possession in the first half, using up 9:23 for a 16-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard plunge by Kevin Dukes (Medina). By halftime, North had almost doubled South in time of possession, 19:47 to 10:13. South finally got on the board at 11:41 left in the fourth quarter when quarterback Jeremy Mountain connected with his favorite wide receiver at Maryvale, Matt Mohr, for a 22-yard TD strike. Mohr was South's offensive player of the game with seven receptions for a game-high 115 yards. "Jeremy called it in the huddle so I knew it was going to me," said Mohr. "It was almost like we were playing at Maryvale. He knew where I was, I knew where he was - touchdown." The extra point from Jake Schum (Frontier) sailed wide right, leaving the score, 14-6. North was forced to punt on its next possession but got the ball back after South punt returner Mike Sanders (Depew) was hit by James Rayhill (Grand Island) and Gregson recovered the fumble. However, South answered with a play of their own when West Seneca West's Dan Simon came in untouched and blocked an attempted 40-yard field goal try by North kicker Chris Monaco (Starpoint). Monaco redeemed himself with a 28-yard field goal with 2:48 remaining. "We changed our protection on the second field goal," said Kurzanski, a Canisius High School grad who played in the game in 1984 as a member of South. "That was important because they brought a couple guys off the edge that we didn't see the first time." South added a second TD with under a minute to play when Mountain hooked up with Maple Grove's Dustin Raynor for a 10-yard strike. Andy Wade (East Aurora) was stopped short by a host of North defenders on the two-point conversion attempt. South attempted an onside kick but the ball bounced out of bounds, giving possession to North. The final offensive numbers saw the South edge North, 256-241. The North did most of their damage on the ground, outrushing the South, 204-65 while South was better in the air, with 191 passing yards to North's 37. Brian Davis (Williamsville North) led the North rushing attack with 10 carries for 62 yards. Gregson was 4-of-11 passing for 37 yards. Dukes (two catches, 21 yards) and Niagara-Wheatfield's Jake Koshinski (two catches, 16 yards) were the only North receivers to catch passes. Mountain led the South aerial assault, completing 17-of-24 passes for 156 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Iroquois' Kyle Shevlin, playing in his first high school football game since breaking his left tibia and fibula against Sweet Home in the Section VI Class A final last November, re-injured the leg early in the second quarter and did not return. Wade completed a pass for 35 yards. Iroquois' Mike Perillo was South's leading rusher with 17 yards on seven carries. West Seneca East's Jake Krezmien had a 50-yard kickoff return late in the first half. Krezmien alone accounted for 100 yards on kickoff returns for the South. Defensively, Greer led the North defense with nine tackles. Others who were significant contributors included Clarence's John Syty and Starpoint's Darren Vukovic with eight tackles each and Hutch-Tech's Dallante Owens (seven tackles, recovered fumble) and Darrly Lewis (four tackles, interception). For the South, Orchard Park's Mike Leavell (four tackles, interception) earned defensive MVP honors. Others who excelled were Cheektowaga's Eric Morganstern (11 tackles), John F. Kennedy's Corey Knox, Depew's Eric Wild, St. Francis' Brian Haas and Brendon Ring, and Frontier's Gil Rodriquez (eight tackles each), and West Seneca West's Gavin Gaiser and Orchard Park's Jason Ladouceur (six tackles each). Other post-game awards went to Depew's Carlton Byrum (South offensive lineman), Gregson (North offensive MVP), and Clarence's Chris Skubis (North offensive lineman). "I'm a smaller guy (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) so I didn't really expect that," said Skubis of the honor. "There's a lot of talent in an all-star game and I was pleased to be a part of it." e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com |
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