Agganis football delights local fans

LYNN – Agganis Week concluded with the 53rd annual football game at Manning Field Thursday night and it was fitting that the mark of Lynn players was all over the South?s 32-9 win in the game honoring the city?s greatest athlete.Classical?s Jordan Brown intercepted two passes, Brad Scuzzarella had two short touchdown runs, and Kenny Khun defended three passes while English?s Chris Tinkham was a monster in the middle on defense with two sacks and three other tackles for a loss.?It?s our home field and we all wanted to defend our home turf. It?s an honor to play in the Agganis Game,” said Brown, who will play at Westfield State. “Coach (Ted) Flaherty put me in the right spots to make plays. He told me I?d get a couple of interceptions and I did.”?It was great having a chance to play with all these captains on the sideline. The Agganis Game is a big deal for us, being from Lynn. We showed what we?re about in Lynn, a bunch of hard-working guys,” said Tinkham, who is bound for a PG year at East Coast Prep.That the South forced five North turnovers, including a punt block, came as no surprise to head coach Pat Sheehan of Triton.?It all started with the defense. They were a pain in the neck all week in practice – I don?t think we rushed for 32 yards all week and here we scored 32 points tonight. The Lynn kids really played well – they?re all-stars for a reason,” Sheehan said.North got the early jump, covering 38 yards in four plays after a 46-yard game-opening kickoff return by Bishop Fenwick?s Eric Razney. North Andover quarterback Casey Walsh, the North?s MVP, set up his own 10-yard scoring run with just 1:37 expired via a 15-yard scramble and a 13-yard completion to Luis Medina.South, though, rattled off 19 unanswered points to take control.One play after Beverly?s Isaiah White rumbled 43 yards, Somerville quarterback Phoenix Huertas swept the right side and the PAT by English?s Chris Lessard gave South the lead, 7-6, with 5:05 left in the first period.Northeast Regional?s Marvey Mathurin?s punt block set the South up at the North 19 and Scuzzarella bounced in for his first score on 4th-and-goal from the two for a 13-6 lead with 1:24 left in the period.Classical?s Khun made a leaping knockdown of Walsh?s fourth-down pass in the back of the end zone to preserve the lead early in the second quarter.After Rams teammate Brown filched a Nick Bona pass at the South 47 with 3:33 left in the half, Triton quarterback and South MVP Brad Whitman engineered a nine-play, 53-yard drive, completing four passes for 29 yards and rushing three times for 21 yards to set up Scuzzarella?s five-yard run for a 19-6 lead.Razney?s second long return of the half, this of 40 yards, positioned the North for a booming 39-yard field goal by Pentucket?s Liam Corkery on the final play of the half, making it 19-9.South stretched the lead early in the third quarter after Jensen Ayuk pounced on a botched lateral at the North nine. Medford quarterback Reggie Thelemaque Jr.?s pass was tipped in the end zone but dropped into the arms of Marblehead?s Brian Daly. Lessard?s PAT made it 26-9.Salem?s Aaron Palmer accounted for the game?s final score on the first play of the fourth quarter, scampering 13 yards on a perfectly executed Statue of Liberty give from Whitman.South MVP Whitman connected on 6-of-8 passes for 51 yards and added 21 yards rushing. North MVP Walsh completed 6-of-14 passes for 81 yards and rushed nine times for 32 yards and a TD.Though he struggled passing, Bishop Fenwick stalwart Nick Bona led all rushers with 68 yards on 12 carries.The game was played in memory of the late Bobby Dwyer and Lynn Police Lt. John LeBrasseur, both of whom did much volunteer work on behalf of the Agganis Foundation.