LYNN — There was plenty of high end talent at the skilled positions in last night's 50th Agganis Football All-Star Classic but in the end the game was decided in the trenches as the South linemen were just too big and too bad for the North, which fell, 20-8, at the Manning Bowl.
"They (the South) won the battle up front and you know football, that's what happens," explained Austin Prep coach Bill Maradei, who was head coach of the North. "Their offensive and defensive lines were tremendous. We had no running game and when we tried to throw it, they put the pressure on. In a game like this, you need electrifying players like they had."
Swampscott star Peter Yasi took advantage of some open lanes to the quarterback and really kept the North, and Fenwick quarterback Bret Kidik in particular, from getting any real momentum. Yasi finished with four sacks as part of his seven total tackles (six were for a loss). Yasi hauled down Kidik on back-to-back plays in the opening drive of the second half forcing the North to punt from deep in its own territory. The pair of pulverizing hits set the hard-hitting defensive tone for the South in the second half while giving the team field advantage.
"Peter and the other Swampscott kids (Phil Larkin, Patrick Costin and Mark McMahon) were fun to coach, all very intelligent and very football savvy," Lynn Classical coach and South Skipper Tim Phelps. "Peter played a huge game for us, those two (sacks) in a row, they were huge plays for us."
After the game Yasi spoke about his experience, which was made easier on the field by the dominance of the defensive line in front of him.
"The D-line was hogging up all the guys, I just had to make the easy play. They did the hard work," said Yasi. "We had a lot of good coaches who worked us hard and taught us technique. And they are all great players on that D-line. It was an emotional last high school game, but I was really glad I could go out on a game like that."
Tyllor McDonald was named South MVP for his team-high 63 yards rushing although the signal caller from Lynn English did not touch paydirt. Fellow former Bulldog Travonne Berry-Rogers had a spectacular 33-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter on a bomb from quarterback Donato Dipientrantonio to put the South up 12-0 in the first quarter. Gloucester's Gilbert Brown converted the South's opening drive for six when he took a second down handoff 10 yards to the promise land.
The North seemed destined to punt all night long, allowing sack-after-sack while gaining virtually no yards on the ground (seven total for the game). Lynnfield quarterback Gino Cohee then took the reins after a North defender jarred the ball lose from Dipientrantonio and the team recovered on the South 35. Three plays later Cohee found Will Herbert in the endzone on a 30-yard hitch-and-go, before finding Joe Diaz for the conversion. Cohee was named North MVP for his efforts but on the other side of the ball it was the boys in orange helmets making their presence felt.
Ipswich cornerback John Eldredge, who was called up to play in the game just a week ago, joined Tiger teammates Brendan Gallagher, Nils Swenson and Jake LeBlanc on the North defense.
"They were four good kids, good football players. They were all over place," said Maradei, who had Swenson, Gallagher and Eldredge all on the same side of the defense. "They practice well, took the coaching well and they played hard. He (Eldredge) came in late because we needed a CB and he was great, we were really happy about that. Ipswich kids are alright in my book."
Eldredge got a bead on a McDonald pass intended for Berry-Rogers around the goal line. Swenson had done a superb job throughout the drive jamming Berry Rogers at the line of scrimmage and when McDonald tried to force it in, Eldredge made him pay.
"Its an honor to get called up. I came down here worked my butt off and got an interception which was nice," said Eldredge who further explained the interception. "We switched our coverage so we could jam (Berry Rogers) at the line, he got by him (Swenson) and then I just saw it up in the air, jumped up, prayed a little, and it ended up in my hands."
Swenson finished with five tackles including back-to-back sticks of his own. The four Ipswich defenders did a fantastic job of containing the elusive McDonald, who got a majority of his rushing yards on broken plays in the first half.
"Not to sound overconfident, but we are from a small school and I feel like we held our own, and I am happy about that," noted Gallagher. "It was a good time, nice to play one final football game outside of the season. One last hoorah."
South 20, North 8
at Manning Field, Lynn
North0800 — 8
South12008 — 20
S- Gilbert Brown 10 run (rush failed)
S- Travonne Berry-Rogers 33 pass from Donato Dipietrantonio (rush failed)
N- Will Herbert 30 pass from Gino Cohee (Joe Diaz pass from Cohee)
S- Nick McCarthy 5 run (Eric Sisson rush)
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: North — Sean Hanley 4-23, Kevin Moriarty 5-17, Adam Fraser 5-(-3) Matt Heriveaux 3-(-4), Bret Kidik 4-(-26); South — Tyllor McDonald 9-63, Nick McCarthy 8-34, Gilbert Brown 5-22, Donato Dipietrantonio 5-14, Chris Bozarjian 5-11, Eric Sisson 2-3, Brendan Oliver 1-0, Malcolm Novello 2-(-14).
PASSING: North — Gino Cohee 4-7-75-1-1, Hanley 3-8-24-0-2; South — Dipietrantonio 4-6-57-1-0, McDonald 3-6-29-0-1, Oliver 0-3-0-0-1.
RECEIVING: North — Will Herbert 2-38, Fraser 2-37, Heriveaux 1-16, Moriarty 1-6, Joe Diaz 1-2; South — Travonne Berry-Rogers 2-44, Phil Larkin 2-18, Gilbert Brown 1-10, Mccarthy 1-9, Bozarjian 1-5.
