Jun 17, 2017 3 min read

CHARLEROI – The North all-stars downed the South Saturday night in the BeeGraphix Football Classic, 28-14.

Defense was the story for the North squad, limiting its opponent to 98 yards on 42 plays.

“It was a solid team effort,” said North defensive coach Chris Chunko of Charleroi. “The guys gave it their all, both teams played hard despite the heat, and we made stops when we needed to.”

The first quarter was sluggish, and the stats proved as much, as the North only had 24 yards while the South only totaled four. The two teams combined for only one first down.

In the opening quarter, Charleroi’s Dylan Sapp had two sacks and finished with seven total tackles, a forced fumble and a pass deflection.

“It was great to play one more game here at home and to come away with a win,” said Sapp, who will continue his career at Thaddeus Stevens. “This was fun and it was a good game.”

The North finally got on the board moments into the second quarter when Terron Murphy (Bethel Park) caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Cole Rogers (Bethel Park), and Teague Nicolella’s (McGuffey) extra point made the score 7-0.

The North worked with a short field en route to its initial score as it ran a reverse punt to the South 17-yard line. On the play, Isaiah Robinson (Washington), who was later ejected from the game, took the handoff on the reverse at the 41 and returned it to the 17.

The North extended its lead to 14-0 with 3:49 to play in the half.

On the play, Bryan Milligan (Canon-McMillan) ran a sweep to the left side and went in untouched from eight yards. Nicolella’s extra point made the score 14-0.

At the half, the North had 114 yards on 25 plays and four first downs while the South had 63 yards on 22 plays and only four first downs.

The score remained 14-0 until 30 seconds left in the third quarter when the South finally got on the scoreboard.

Running back Steve Mayernik (Elizabeth Forward) raced 15 yards to make it 14-6, but the South went for a two-point conversion and failed.

The South kept the momentum going early in the fourth quarter, trimming its deficit to 14-12 when Tom Sheehan (California) blocked a punt, scooped it up, and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown with 9:12 to play. Jonathan Christopher (Carmichaels) ran a quarterback keeper to tie the score.

The North took a 21-14 lead with 6:06 to play. Alonzo Lemus (Canon-McMillan) scored on a five-yard run and Nicolella’s extra point made it a seven-point game.

The North, which finished with 243 yards on 51 plays, secured the win when Marcus Czulewicz (McGuffey) hit Nick Rogers (Fort Cherry) with a 34-yard touchdown pass with 2:44 to play.

After the contest, the MVP’s and scholarship winners were announced with Rogers (North) and Burgettstown’s Dalton Green (South) being the offensive selections and Christopher (North) and Ringgold’s Easton Fine (South) were the defensive MVPs.

Fine, who will play at Washington and Jefferson, talked about the honor after finishing with seven tackles, three sacks and one pass deflection.

“It is an honor to finish my high school career with this,” he said. “I had a great time and it was great to represent Ringgold one more time.”

Nicolella and Scott Miller (Fort Cherry) won the North’s scholarships while Christopher and Tyler Rothfuss (California) won them for the South.