Montco holds on to top Bucks in All-Star Classic
WARMINSTER >> It wasn’t a classic and it wasn’t exactly an artistic treasure.
But as far as drama, the inaugural Montgomery County-Bucks County All-Star football game, at William Tennent High School Friday night, had a lot and then some.
The 19-17 Montco win came down to the last play of the game — a missed field goal — and had both sides and an above average crowd revved up and wanting more.
In essence, the game came down to two drives.
The final Montco drive, which saw Cheltenham quarterback Branden Mack fire an on-the-money, 35-yard strike to North Penn’s Nyfease West with 1:34 to play in the fourth quarter.
That was followed by an eight-play, no-timeouts, 70-yard drive by Bucks County, which ended with a field goal attempt on the final snap of the game that sailed wide right.
“It was a lot of fun,” said former Abington head coach Tim Sorber, who was overseeing his final scholastic game for a while after stepping down as the Ghosts’ head man. “You saw some struggles by both sides early on because the players have been off for some time.
“But when it came down to the end, both sides wanted it.”
The true winner was the Southampton Warminster Lions Club, which sponsored the event.
And how bad can a football game that honored the late Norristown head coach Roger Grove be?
The two sides went right at, and before the contest was 12 seconds old, Mack tossed a 65-yard scoring pass to Panthers teammate Akeem Brown to put Montco on the board.
“We didn’t come here to get our butts kicked,” Mack said. “We were going with that play all the way.
“Akeem and I have been a good combination all year.”
#FOOTBALL: @MACK_IT_OUT evades a sack & connects with @TheRealQuattro for a 35 yard TD 4Q of Bucks Montco ASG. pic.twitter.com/X1pcwEIhUx
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) June 4, 2016
Bucks answered with a long drive of its own, capped by a Stephen Iannuzzi (Central Bucks South) field goal that brought the hosts within 7-3 with 5:51 left in the first quarter.
But Bucks wasn’t done.
A short kickoff was fumbled by the Montco stars and Greg Lichtenstein (Pennsbury) covered it at the Montco 38.
From there, a couple of Mike Alley (Pennsbury) passes and a key pass interference call against Montco got Bucks to the 8-yard line, and an 8-yard swing pass from Alley to Truman’s Maurice Jackson made it 9-7 (the PAT was missed) with 2:57 left in the opening stanza.
After the fast start, the contest settled in as both defenses stiffened.
But before the first half could expire, Montco took the lead with a 9-play, 55-yard drive capped by a 1-yard score by Plymouth Whitemarsh grad Nafeese Nasir with just 27 seconds left in the first half.
Nasir was a threat both as a runner and a receiver, a role he’s been told he’ll play that same role with West Chester University, where he’ll play next fall.
“They’ve said they want to utilize me in multiple positions,” Nasir said. “I can catch the ball out of the backfield or play slotback or circle out of the backfield.”
After a scoreless third quarter, the two sides squared off for a photo finish.
#FOOTBALL: @Mike_Alley15 rolls & finds Maurice Jackson for an 8 yard @BucksFBAllStars TD 1st quarter. pic.twitter.com/cT9IyrwD5s
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) June 4, 2016
The Montco side had a 50-yard field goal attempt blocked midway through the third, while a Bucks 28-yard attempt sailed wide left on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
Soon after, Montco inexplicably opened the door for the Bucks side when Sorber and his staff chose to go for a first down when facing a fourth-and-one at their own 29-yard line.
Nasir was yanked down for a 7-yard loss, and the Bucks side quickly got inside the 10.
Quakertown quarterback Tom Garlick’s fourth-down scramble died just short of the goal line.
But that proved no problem for Bucks, which got a safety on the next snap when Mack was yanked down in his own end zone.
The Bucks side got the ball following the safety, but its drive lasted just one play, a deflected Garlick pass that was picked off by Upper Moreland lineman Ryan Cavanaugh at the Montco 42-yard line.
Montco could do nothing with the possession. But after a punt, Bucks did, with Garlick capping a terrific eight-play, 84-yard drive that featured a 51-yard halfback pass from Bensalem’s Denzel Hughes to Pennsbury’s Rob Daly, and that got close enough for Garlick to plunge into the end zone with 2:21 to play to give Bucks the lead.
But Montco didn’t back down.
They answered with a five-play, 64-yard drive that featured a disputed pass interference call and the aforementioned Mack dart to West that put Montco up, 19-17, with just 94 ticks of the clock left.
Behind the passing of Garlick, Bucks went from its own 23 to the Montco 7-yard line with just two seconds left on the clock.
But the ensuing field goal attempt sailed wide, and Montco had a hard-earned, and very emotional win.
“You can’t say enough about Braden,” Sorber said. “He knew he was going to have to play the whole game at quarterback (Hatboro-Horsham signal-caller Casey Walsh was a scratch after contracting mononucleosis).
“You tell him something the first time, and he gets it. He has a great football IQ. He has a great future.”
As for the future of the game itself, at least numero uno was a hit.
