LYNN — The 63rd Agganis All-Star Football Game is set for Wednesday at Manning Field beginning at 6 p.m., offering players one final chance to showcase their skills.
The annual showdown, which concludes a nine-game Agganis week, features some of the top seniors from across the region.
This year, Beverly High Coach Jeff Hutton will lead the North, while Nashoba Tech’s Danny Kelly helms the South.
“I’m very excited and I’ve been a huge fan of the game,” Kelly said. “It has a long and rich history, and it really gives the North Shore an opportunity to show off its talent. Growing up in Medford, I always followed the game, so it’s an honor to be picked to coach.”
Hutton couldn’t have agreed more with Kelly.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be selected to coach this game,” he said. “We have new coaches on staff for next year, so it’s perfect timing for us to get to know each other better. I coached as an assistant years ago when Dan Bauer was the head coach at Beverly, and it was a great experience.”
Kelly said he’s most excited about seeing rival players come together.
“It’s a great experience to work with a different group of kids,” he said. “Guys you play against in the regular season come together and form connections. I know there are three CAC (Commonwealth Athletic Conference) teams represented and a bunch of guys across the offensive line. You’ve got players from Lynn English, Lynn Tech, KIPP, and also guys from St. John’s Prep and Malden Catholic — and now they’re teammates. It’s great to see them bond.”
With rosters full of talent, both coaches are looking forward to putting it to good use.
“I was joking with our coaching staff, saying this team could win a state championship,” Kelly said. “We have three great quarterbacks and a lot of talent all over the field. We’re excited for the kids to showcase their abilities and represent the game the right way. It’s a longstanding tradition and we’ve talked about the importance of that — finishing their high school careers the right way.”
“The kids who have been showing up have been working their butts off. They’ve been committed and it matters to them,” Hutton said. “The cool part about these games is you get to coach kids who you are used to coaching against and finding ways to stop them. Now, you get to use them and find ways to gameplan for them or around them.”
Local players set to suit up are Dan Hou (Revere), Gabe Santos (Peabody), Tyler Rappold (Peabody), Geo Woodard (Revere), Crew Monaco (Marblehead), Iain McCarthy (Lynnfield), Alex Fleming (Lynnfield), Bernardo Bennis (Marblehead), Dorlyn Morel (Peabody), Anthony Silva (Peabody), Joel Vasquez (Revere), Maximus Nastari (Lynnfield), Jayvery Monegro (Marblehead), Jimmy Festa (Peabody), Kyle Marron (Peabody), Dylan Annese (Peabody), Jayce Jean-Pierre (Peabody), Joseph Marino (Swampscott), Edwin Castro (St. John’s Prep), Henry Beuttler (Swampscott), Tyler Guy (St. Mary’s), Limbert Thomas (Lynn English), Jeffrey Quigley (St. John’s Prep), Devell Pamplin (St. Mary’s), Jaiden Rosario (Lynn English), Dereon Phipps (Lynn Tech), Gabe Tripp (Swampscott), Liam Keaney (Swampscott), Wilfred Campos (KIPP), Nakeylen Davis (Swampscott), Michael Stackpole (KIPP), Gabe Grein (Winthrop), Wilderson Lafortune (Saugus), Joshua Louis (Lynn Tech), Timothy Sheehan (Swampscott), and Eli Ramirez (Lynn Tech).
