LYNN — For the first time since December, high school athletes took the gridiron for one last football game. The best players were on show, and a show they put on as South escaped North, 27-16, in the Agganis All-Star Football Game at Manning Field.
Despite a slow start, South found its footing to lead, 13-0, at halftime. Peabody High kicker Domenic Scalese drilled 22- and 29-yard field goals. The only touchdown in the first half came from another Peabody Tanner, Jaden Roman, who ran one in from 7 yards out.
In the second half, however, North came with a newfound energy and picked up a big fourth-down conversion from Lowell’s Ebeneer Annan Jr.
Moments later, North’s Max Sanchez, of Amesbury, broke a 42-yard rush to get to the 3-yard line before Annan finished it off with a rushing touchdown. The 2-point conversion was successful to cut North’s deficit to 13-8.
And on South’s next offensive play, bad went to worse. Quarterback Brian Vaughan Jr. of Lynn Classical mishandled a snap and the ball was recovered by Amesbury’s Christian McGarry to give North possession back at the 36-yard line.
North scored within minutes, thanks to a 12-yard rushing touchdown from Sanchez with four minutes to go in the third quarter.
“He can really run the ball and we leaned on him today,” North coach Jim Rabbit, of KIPP Academy, said of his halfback.
Sanchez earned North’s Most Valuable Player Award.
After the touchdown, Rabbit decided to go for two again – and it was successful again, thanks to a beautiful throw from Salem’s Corey Grimes to high school teammate Albert Pujols (16-13, North).
“We knew coming out, it was going to look a little wonky. Only a week-and-a-half of practice and the guys were still getting used to each other,” Rabbit said. “I’m proud of the guys for stepping up in the second half. You know they’re football players when they can make adjustments on the fly. We survived that first half, and in the second half, we took the lead. They just made a couple more plays than us tonight.”
Rabbitt credited his coordinators for adjustments made at halftime.
“Our coordinators, coach (Ed) Blum from North Reading on offense and coach (Dan) O’Connor from Gloucester on defense did great,” Rabbitt said. “They saw some things and made the adjustments.”
Unfortunately for North, South had a run of its own in store.
It was Roman again, this time, sprinting past North’s defense for a 28-yard score. Then, to seal the game, South coach Brian Vaughan Sr. of Lynn Classical went to the two players he trusts most: Vaughan Jr. and receiver John Nasky.
Vaughan Jr. found Nasky for a 79-yard touchdown to put South ahead, 27-16. Vaughan threw for more than 200 yards, while Nasky had eight catches for 162 yards to earn South MVP honors.
“John is a special kid. When he goes off to Pace University, he’s going to be in the mix to play right away,” Coach Vaughan said. “We just tried to get the ball to kids who can make things happen. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but tonight, it worked.”
“For them to connect one more time was great,” he added.
An emotional Coach Vaughan cherished the last time coaching his son, and said the last few weeks have been more than enjoyable.
“I think it feels good because it’s the last time I get to coach my son and be involved in the game together. For us to go out together with a win and for him to play well, that’s something we talked about,” he said. “We wanted to embrace the moment and cherish the moment. We had a lot of fun the last four weeks.”
For Rabbitt, despite the loss, he knew the Agganis Game was bigger than the final score.
“This was my second time coaching this game,” he said. “It’s great for the city and the North Shore. I’m a Lynn guy. I’m from Lynn, live in Lynn, coach in Lynn, so to honor Harry Agganis is what it’s all about.”
Vaughan said it was the most fun he’s had coaching a game.
“The Classical coaches did the offense, while Lynn Tech coached the defense. I told Coach (James) Runner this was the most fun I’ve ever had.”
