BROCKWAY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — It was back yard football.
Plays designed on the fly. All manner of shenanigans such as reverses, halfback options and even the “Philly Special.”
It was in one word, fun.
(Pictured above, Karns City’s Eric Booher threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns and also caught a TD pass to help the South to the 44-34 win over the North)
The South team at the Frank Varischetti All-Star Game on Friday night in Brockway didn’t hold back and the Karns City tandem of Eric Booher and Micah Rupp were the main beneficiaries of the wide-open style implemented by coach Bob Rottman (Moniteau) and his staff.
Booher threw for 301 yards and touchdown passes of 57 and 26 to Rupp and also caught a 17-yard touchdown pass on the “Philly Special” from Central Clarion wide receiver Ashton Rex in a wild 44-34 win for the South.
“They basically told us to call our own plays in the huddle,” Booher said, smiling. “We made up our own audibles. It’s an all-star game. (Rottman) said it was about us.”
The deep touchdown to Rupp, which gave the South a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, was a collaboration between Booher and Rupp.
The tandem certainly formed a connection during their years for the Gremlins and it showed on Friday night in their last game together.
“I was getting flashbacks from junior year,” Rupp said, grinning.
For Booher, the offensive MVP for the South, it meant a little extra.
His senior season for Karns City was marred by a thumb injury suffered in the first game of the season. It prevented him from throwing a pass for a month.
Booher still suited up with a cast around his thumb for two games.
Karns City found a way to win both of them with Booher throwing the ball zero times.
When he finally was rid of the cast, he tossed three touchdown passes — two to, you guessed it, Rupp — in a win over Moniteau and Rottman.
“It’s certainly a lot better having them on my team,” Rottman said.
With the rules in this all-star game skewed toward the offense and the passing game, Booher shined.
He was 17 of 25 on the night, throwing with zip and accuracy and getting everyone involved. Seven players caught at least one pass from Booher.
“It was a lot of run,” Booher said. “A great team with a great line and a great running back and great wide receivers. And that connection with me and Micah. It’s always been there. I had a great time with everybody, making new friends from other teams, guys I had never met before.”
The South set the tone from the first series.
Punxsutawney’s Zeke Bennett crashed into the end zone from seven yards out to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive for the South. That march was kept alive by a key fourth-and-seven conversion from its own 39.
The Booher to Rupp 57-yard hookup made it 14-0 with 10:52 remaining the second quarter. Just nine seconds later on the North’s first play, Keystone’s Tyler Albright stepped in front of a pass from St. Marys’ Charlie Coudriet and sprinted 36 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0.
(Keystone’s Tyler Alrbight was the South’s defensive MVP)
Albright was the South’s defensive MVP.
The North got on the board just two minutes later when St. Marys’ Carter Chesney made a sliding reception in the end zone on a pass from Port Allegany’s Drew Evens for a five-yard score to trim the lead to 21-6.
The South got a 22-yard field goal from Punxsutawney’s Peyton Hetrick on the last play of the first half to make it 24-6.
Things only got wilder in the second half.
Following a North turnover, Rex found Booher in the end zone from 17 yards out on the “Philly Special” play made famous by the Eagles in the Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots to put the South up 31-6.
That play was put in at halftime.
“We talked about it coming in — it’s not like we’re going to teach them a lot in four practices,” Rottman said. “We just put a lot of the onus on them to try to maximize their talents and get them involved in the game. Booher came in at halftime and said, ‘Hey, let’s try the Philly Special,’ and we scored on it. A lot of what they did was some of the things they did during the season. Why not let them do what they’re comfortable with?”
It worked.
For most of the game, the defense stood out for the South as well.
But the North was able to get things going in the second half.
Kane’s Ricky Zampogna caught an 8-yard TD pass from Evens less than two minutes after the Philly Special to cut the South lead to 31-14.
(Kane’s Ricky Zampogna was the North’s offensive MVP)
After the second Booher-to-Rupp TD that extended the South lead to 37-14, Zampogna scored again, this time on a 2-yard run to make it 37-22 following the successful 2-point conversion.
The North had a chance to make things even more interesting, but was turned away on a fourth down play inside the South 20.
Cole Bish of Redbank Valley made it 44-22 with a 1-yard plunge with 2:45 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The North scored two touchdowns in the final seven seconds, first on a 25-yard pass play from Coudriet to Landon Darr and then on a Logan Mosier 7-yard fumble recovery as the South lateraled the ball several times on the ensuring kickoff.
Bennett led the South with 71 yards rushing on 14 carries. Rex caught four passes for 77 yards and Redbank Valley’s Aiden Ortz also had four receptions for 49 yards.
Blaine Moses of Port Allegany led the North with 44 yards on eight carries. Evens was 10 of 16 passing for 162 yards and two touchdowns. Coudriet was 12 of 27 for 91 yards and one touchdown pass to go with two interceptions.
(Port Allegany’s Noah Archer was the North’s defensive MVP)
Mosier also had two receptions for 95 yards for the North.
The South had 412 yards of offense; The North had 393 yards.
“I think the play calling really made it fun for the offensive guys,” Rottman said. “There was big play after big play there. The linemen got to run. We did some power blocking with some iso. We tried a little bit of everything and everybody responded and played a great game.”
It was also a great opportunity for 20 players to get some money to put toward college. Twenty more $1,000 scholarships were handed out before the game, bring the grand total in the eight years of the game to $121,000.
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