The North defeated the South 26-3 in the 39th Bob Sands Memorial Bucks County All-Star Classic at War Memorial Field on Thursday night. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Doylestown – Pennridge seniors Micah Stutzman and Matt Pasquale both exited War Memorial Field with much more than the deserved hardware in their respective hands after the North All-Stars defeated the South All-Stars 26-3 in the 39th Bob Sands Memorial Bucks County All-Star Classic. The Ram duo would depart the gridiron with a long lasting memory of their very last competitive football game.
Stutzman – voted the game’s Most Valuable Player for the North – caught a pair of jaw dropping touchdown passes. The first came on a terrific 29-yard scoring strike from Zach Nelsen (Central Bucks East) in the first period – and the second on a sensational 40-yard scoring aerial from Pasquale in the fourth period.
Stutzman will attend Penn State University next fall – and in all likelihood will not play football with the Nittany Lions.
“Penn State has an excellent engineering program – and it came down to me choosing school over playing football,” said Stutzman. “It was the hardest decision I ever had to make, and it really came down to the last day.
“I might decide to try and walk on,” added Stutzman. “But I most likely won’t get to play in college. This was my last game – and it was awesome night.”
Pasquale – voted the Sportsmanship Award for the North – completed seven passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. Pasquale also played his final competitive football game, as he will begin his college career at West Chester University in the near future.
“Playing in this game was a great opportunity for me knowing that this was going to be my last game,” said Pasquale who will not join Pennridge classmates Michael Class and Shane Kraynik on the WCU football team next fall. “And to be able to connect with Micah on the last drive was special. We were able to do it all season (in the fall), and to be able to do it again tonight was great - something to remember.”
Another memorable performance was turned in by the North defense, which limited the explosive South offense to only 147 yards of total offense. And the outstanding performance of Quakertown middle linebacker Micah Ruch stood out all evening.
“I was proud of the way we played defense, and this whole week has been so much fun,” said Ruch who will attend East Stroudsburg University next fall. “I called the defenses tonight, and they gave me that responsibility the second day of practice.
“It was great to be able to play with players I played against all season,” added Ruch who had decals from Pennridge, CB South, and New Hope-Solbury on his helmet in addition to Quakertown. “We really came together quickly as a team.”
The North proved to be the better team from the opening whistle to the final whistle.
The North scored on its first drive of the game to take a 3-0 lead. The highlight of the drive was a 19-yard pass from Pasquale to Mark Ciaudelli (Central Bucks West). The drive culminated on a booming 25-yard field goal by Jon Williams (CB South).
The North would score its first touchdown later in the opening period. Stutzman outfought a South defender in the end zone for the ball to score on a beautiful 29-yard scoring pass from Nelsen. Danny Sutton (New Hope-Solebury) added the extra point to create a 10-0 lead.
The lone scoring drive for the South came in the second period when Devon Flynn (Conwell-Egan) launched a 38-yard field goal to slice the lead to 10-3. It would be as close as the South would get all night.
The North would add a third period touchdown when Joe Dutkiewitcz (Archbishop Wood) would score on a three-yard run. Peter Psomiadis (Pennridge) added the point after touchdown to increase the lead to 20-3.
The North saved the very best for the very last when Pasquale fired a gorgeous 40-yard scoring pass to Stutzman to conclude the scoring.
There were two marvelous players that left the field with MVP and Sportsmanship Awards for the South. Neshaminy senior Alex Nicolas (MVP) and Pennsbury senior Mycah Mollohan (Sportsmanship) took home their respective plaques.
“It would have been nice to leave the field with a ‘W’,” said Nicolas who will play football next fall at Lebanon Valley College. “But this will be an experience that I will never forget.
“This whole experience has been amazing,” said Mollohan who will play football next fall at Millersville University. “We lost the game, but I have been blessed to be able to play in the game. College is next – time to turn the page.”
College is indeed on the next page for Stutzman, Pasquale, Ruch, Nicolas, and Mollohan - only the stories for each will be different.
North All Stars 10 3 7 6 - 26
South All Stars 0 3 0 0 - 3
N: Jon Williams 25 field goal
N: Micah Stutzman 29 pass from Zach Nelsen (Danny Sutton kick)
S: Devon Flynn 38 field goal
N: Williams 23 field goal
N: Joe Dutkiewitcz 3 run (Peter Psomiadis kick)
N: Stutzman 40 pass from Matt Pasquale (pass failed)
North All Stars South All Stars
13 First Downs 10
80 Rushing Yards 18
155 Passing Yards 129
235 Total Offense 147
1-31 Punts / Average 1-38
5-35 Penalties / Yards 7-90
North All Stars:
Rushing: Connor Hayden 4-33; Joe Dutkiewitcz 7-22 & TD; Joe Dwight 9-13; Michael Class 10-5; Elijah Wireman 2-5; and Alex Perks 1-2. Totals 33-80 and TD.
Passing: Matt Pasquale 7-17-0; 122 yards & TD; and Zach Nelsen 3-4-0; 33 yards and TD. Totals 10-21-0; 155 yards & 2 TD.
Receiving: Micah Stutzman 3-73 & 2 TD; Michael Class 3-34; Jason Devenuto 1-29; Mark Ciaudelli 1-19; Joe Dwight 1-0; and Alex Perks 1-0. Totals 10-155 and 2 TD.
Interceptions: Micah Ruch & Joe Dutkiewitcz.
South All Stars:
Rushing: Alex Nicholas 3-32; Ronquay Smith 6-14; Manny Fisher 1-5; David Haun 3-3; Matt Bianchino 1-3; John Jakimowicz 1-2; George Pegram 3 (-21); Trevor Leone 5 (-20). Totals 23-18.
Passing: Trevor Leone 5-12-1; 79 yards; George Pegram 3-13-1; 50 yards. Totals 8-25-2; 129 yards.
Receiving: Jordan Livingston 2-39; Dwayne Ellis 2-36; Manny Fisher 1-31; Ulysse Dudley 1-10; Ty Walker 1-9; and Tyriq Wilson 1-4. Totals 8-129 yards.
Interceptions: None
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