LYNN — The 58th Agganis All-Star football game Thursday was everything it promised to be. In a back-and-forth battle that came down to the final seconds, the North All-Stars stopped a late South surge for a 20-14 win at Manning Field.
“It was a lot of fun coaching (the Agganis game),” said North coach Brian St. Pierre of St. John’s Prep. “They’re All-Stars for a reason. You get them in practice and you see that’s why they’re here. My guys on the North were a really, really fun group to coach. They were great kids, they gave a great effort and they played really hard. Everybody played and contributed.”
St. John’s receiver Max Freedman brought home MVP honors for the North. St. Mary’s running back/defensive back Jalen Echevarria was the South MVP.
Freedman caught six passes (one touchdown) for 110 yards and recovered a fumble in North territory on the South’s final possession.
“Max had a great year for us,” St. Pierre said. “There’s no surprise there. He’s going to Bowdoin. They’re excited about him and they should be. He’s going to be a really good player for them.”
St. Pierre coached six of his 2019 graduates (Freedman, Patrick Keefe, James Hanley, Colton Tangney, Kevin Dewing and James Taylor) for one last game Thursday. All six played key roles in lifting the Eagles to a Division 1 state championship last December.
“I’m attached to that class,” St. Pierre said. “Those six guys that represented us are really good football players and really good guys too.”
The North dominated the first quarter. After the South went three-and-out, the North took advantage of a short punt. Brendan Treacy (Danvers) hit Freedman for an 11-yard pass to bring the South inside the North’s 10-yard line. Treacy finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown scamper to put his North All-Stars on the board. Mark Federico’s (North Andover) PAT kick gave the North a 7-0 lead.
It was nothing doing for the South on its next possession. Treacy found Freedman for a 31-yard touchdown pass, boosting the North’s lead to 13-0 (kick failed).
The South’s offense picked up steam toward the end of the first quarter but trailed, 13-0, going into the second period. Adam Bowler (Arlington) gave the South its first first-down of the night on an 8-yard quarterback sneak. Bowler then put a 44-yard pass in Echevarria’s hands and the South found itself on the doorstep at the 5-yard mark. But the South made nothing of it.
Bowler’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Connor Lynch (Swampscott) closed the gap to 13-6 (conversion failed). Freedman’s 38-yard reception right before the end of the half put the South’s defense on its heels. A big defensive stand, capped by Chase Buono’s (Classical) pass deflection in the end zone, kept it a one-possession game, 13-6, at halftime.
A 1-yard touchdown plunge from Luis Guridys (Peabody) stretched the North’s lead to 20-6 in the third quarter (Federico PAT).
Not so fast, said the South. Bowler connected with Conor Donohue (St. Mary’s) on a 28-yard touchdown strike with 5:02 to go in the fourth quarter. Echevarria caught the 2-point conversion, trimming the North’s lead to 20-14.
Echevarria put fans on the edge of their seats when he intercepted a North pass at the North 30-yard line with 1:35 remaining. But a South fumble in the final seconds, recovered by Freedman, squashed the threat and the North escaped with the 20-14 win.
“It’s an All-Star game and that’s what it’s all about,” St. Pierre said. “We could’ve sat on it and punted there toward the end, but we wanted to have fun. We wanted to finish it. It was exciting, which was good.”
