Santry, defense steer South to 13-7 Agganis victory

LYNN – Swampscott quarterback Robert Santry delivered a 36-yard scoring strike to Kyle Gotham of Revere with 3:09 to play, cementing the South’s 13-6 decision over the North in last night’s 52nd annual Agganis Football Classic at Manning Field.View Photo GalleryThe South defense then forced two North turnovers in the final three minutes, first recovering a fumble at its own 21 with 2:08 remaining, and then sealing the deal on an interception by Tom Trainor (Saugus) in the final minute.Santry was able to establish consistent rhythm and finished 6-of-10 for 154 yards to earn MVP honors for the South. Alex Moore of St. John’s Prep was selected North MVP after amassing 142 all-purpose yards.”Our defense was great at the end (of the game),” said Santry, who will play football at Mass. Maritime. “This was a lot of fun. The line gave me plenty of time and our receivers had a lot of height.”Moore, who also played in the recent Shriners Game, seemed in mid-season form. “Winning MVP in a game like this is great but everyone here is capable of winning that. I thought we played hard and gave a great effort,” said Moore, who’s off to the University of Pennsylvania on July 17.Following a disjointed first quarter played exclusively between the 30-yard lines, the North mounted an 11-play, 53-yard scoring drive sustained by a fourth-down pass interference penalty against the South.Moore’s diving reception of Bishop Fenwick quarterback Fran Hannon’s delivery on a deep out route produced a first down at the South four. Greater Lawrence product Cristin Rivera (16 carries, 67 yards) pounded in for the game’s first score on the next play with 7:17 left in the half. Jake Cawlina’s PAT sailed wide to the right, leaving the score at 6-0.North was poised to stretch the lead late in the half following Haverhill quarterback Tom Morgan’s connections of 17 yards with Cody Rothwell (Pentucket) and 23 with Moore at the one. However, the North fumbled into the end zone two plays later and South’s Jepthe Soulouque (Everett) returned the bobble to his 30.Santry advanced South quickly with completions of 30 yards to Kenny Cajal (Everett) and 23 yards to Christian Dunston (Salem). However, Jaddiel Polanco’s end zone interception concluded the half.The second half began with South fireworks on Ryan Maney’s (Reading) 65-yard kickoff return to the North 22. Shortly thereafter, Mike Karavetsos’ (Lynnfield) nine-yard keeper preceded a one-yard scoring plunge from Kenny Pierce (Beverly). Alejandro Arrano (Northeast) tacked on the PAT for a 7-6 lead just 2:02 into the half.Following Arrano’s shanked punt, North moved to the South 16 midway through the fourth quarter but Cawlina’s 33-yard field goal was wide left with 6:41 remaining.Santry then kicked off an eight-play scoring drive with a 25-yard completion to Mark Horgan (Gloucester) and capped it with his seam-splitting dart to Gotham, who burned the North safeties. Arrano misfired on the PAT but South’s defense took care of the rest.”This is just fantastic. This is a great group of kids and to see them bond together was special,” said South head coach Neal Weidman of Lynnfield. “Offensively it’s tough to get going in games like these but I thought Santry did a really nice job. We told everybody they’d get two series and then we’d go with the hot guy.”Pentucket’s Rothwell turned in a strong offensive effort for North with a game-high seven receptions for 83 yards and 24 yards rushing. South’s Andrew Kibarian (Lynnfield) and Devin Naylor (Malden) and North’s Tim Friermuth (Pentucket) registered resounding sacks. Malden quarterback Jacob Martino produced South’s longest run on a 23-yard keeper.