LYNN — This one was no cakewalk.
Friday night’s 57th Agganis Football All-Star Game at Manning Field promised a wire-to-wire classic featuring the top North Shore talents from the class of 2018 and it delivered.
In a back-and-forth battle, Lynnfield quarterback Matt Mortellite scored the game-winning touchdown as time expired to propel the South all-stars to a 28-26 win over the North squad. Mortellite scrambled to his right and shook off his receiver before diving into the end zone after a five-yard quarterback keeper.
“There were a lot of good players on that field tonight,” South coach Chris Carroll (English) said. “There was a lot of talent, great talent from the North shore. It was a great year for North Shore football and we saw that tonight. I couldn’t ask for a better game.”
“I was impressed by both sides,” North coach James Runner said. “I’m a football fan so I have to be honest and upfront. It was good to see so much talent on the field at once and it was a great game.”
The South all-stars ran out to a quick lead in the first quarter. Mortellite connected with receiver Geoffrey Ingrando (Malden Catholic) on the game’s first possession for an 80-yard touchdown strike (conversion failed). Midway through the quarter, running back Vinnie Gaskins (Salem) found the end zone on a five-yard carry. Eric DeMayo’s (Peabody) two-yard rush on the ensuing conversion gave the South a 14-0 lead after one quarter.
The North sliced its deficit in half in the second quarter, thanks to a three-yard touchdown run from Keoni Gaskin (Lynn Tech) with 7:40 left in the half (Danvers’ Zach Dillon PAT). It only took the South 28 seconds to boost its lead to 22-7 on a 72-yard touchdown pass from Jovan Harding (Cambridge) to Ingrando (Gaskins rush).
North’s Franco Abbatessa (Danvers) plowed his way into the end zone for a three yard touchdown run, closing the first half at 22-13 (conversion failed).
Quarter No. 3 belonged to the North. Steffan Gravely’s three-yard touchdown carry placed the North within striking distance at 22-20 (Dillon PAT). Abbattessa added another three-yard touchdown rush, giving the North its first lead of the night at 26-22 (conversion failed). That’s how it stayed at the the end of the third.
“We moved some players from one side to the other,” Runner said. “We adjusted our front line. We played a bit tougher up front on defense, not allowing them to get the outside as much as possible. Aidan Gillis (Marblehead), Marlon Scott (St. Mary’s) and Marcus Tucker (Lynn Tech) all played tough tonight.”
Both defenses stepped up to keep the fourth quarter a scoreless period until Mortellite, on the final play of the game, scored the game-winning touchdown on his five-yard scramble.
“We had a route called in a combo,” Carroll said. “We were looking for something on the pylon and it wasn’t there. Give Matt credit, he improvised and got to the end zone. It’s not how you draw it up but great players make big plays.
“It was intense,” Carroll added. “Everybody was trying. You wanted the kids to have fun, which they did, but at the end of the day you’re an athlete and you compete. Both teams gave it their all and we were fortunate to come out on top.”
Ingrando, who’ll attend Endicott in the final, earned MVP honors for the South. St. Mary’s Calvin Johnson, who’ll attend Anna Maria, won the North’s MVP award.
“I have to kudos to Paul (Halloran) and Matt (Durgin) for selecting me and Chris for the game,” Runner said. “I think we gave the people the show they were looking for. We both put the ball up, we spread it out. We saw some big runs. It was interesting to see the adjustments. We treated it like a normal game. It was fun.”
