Defenses dominate in Classic

Put the Gatorade people on alert.

There's a new candidate for a "Replay" game just like the popular rematch of the 1993 Easton-Phillipsburg Thanksgiving Day game that went over so well at Lafayette's Fisher Stadium in April of 2009.

The 40th annual McDonald's Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic delivered something on Thursday night that's seen in the World Cup, but virtually nowhere else in sports these days — a tie.

The Lehigh/Carbon/Monroe "Red" team and the Northampton County/Phillipsburg/Palisades "Gold" played to a 7-7 deadlock in a game defined by defense.

In fact, both scores were set up by two of the six turnovers in the game.

A 32-yard field goal attempt by the Red's Tyler Sickler of Pocono Mountain East went wide left in the final seconds to preserve just the second tie in the game's history and the first since a 13-13 finish in 1990.

"I didn't know games still end in ties," said Parkland's Kellan McCants, who scored the only TD for the LCM Red squad when he hauled in a 16-yard TD reception from Emmaus' Brady Knerr in the third quarter.

"It's tough. We worked hard in practice all week, but it's a shame we didn't win. If they want a 'Replay game' I'd do it. In fact, I'll do it right now."

Certainly, no one was in a hurry to leave Nazareth's Andy Leh Stadium at the end of the night. Although the scoreboard didn't produce a decisive outcome, the event had lots of winners.

Proceeds will benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities with the idea of creating a "Ronald Room" at Lehigh Valley Hospital to help kids and families battling cancer.

And lots of friendships were formed over the past two weeks, even if the practices weren't always enjoyable because of warmer-than-usual temperatures.

"I thought the experience was great," said the California of Pennsylvania-bound McCants. "I recommend it to other kids. I feel sad for the other Parkland kids who didn't get to play."

Many in the crowd may have felt sorry for the offenses which couldn't get on track for lengthy drives throughout the night.

The Red's best chance at a score in the first half was a 40-yard field goal attempt that was blocked by Easton's Mike Cousar.

The Gold seemed to be in good shape when Northampton's Zach Szoke had an interception on the second play of the game. The offense was handed the ball at the Red 35, but fumbled it away on its first play from scrimmage.

It was that kind of night.

"The defensive fronts on both sides played well," said Northampton's Bob Steckel, the coach for the Gold team. "There were a couple of minor breakdowns in the secondary that led to some big plays, but overall, the kids played hard and played well."

It was a big play by the Gold secondary that led to the night's first score. Terrell Drayton of Saucon Valley intercepted a Red pass and returned it 43 yards to the 1.

On the next play, Palisades' Adam Hardy kept it on a sneak for the game's first score.

The Red took advantage of a Gold fumble by Drayton on a punt return to get its lone score.

Just four plays after the recovery by Northwestern's Nick Boyd, Knerr found McCants over the middle for the game's only TD pass.

"You never see an Emmaus kid throwing a touchdown pass to a Parkland kid," Knerr said. "At halftime, we were told to look backside on a certain play and Kellan was there and came up with a huge play."

McCants added a 27-yard reception down the sideline from East Stroudsburg South's Robbie Moyer in the closing minutes and had the Red nearing the red zone at the Gold 25. Moyer also had a 7-yard carry to get his team closer to pulling out a victory, but the field goal attempt by Sickler just didn't stay between the uprights.

"It was just tough out there," said the Millersville-bound Knerr, who threw two interceptions. "It's definitely tough for an offense in this game because you're playing with receivers you've never played with and guys aren't on the same page. You only have a week or so to practice and the defense can just sort of react.

"We still made some plays. It's just unfortunate that we tied. I would have loved to end my high school career with a win, but getting that touchdown was a nice way to cap my career."

Lots of defensive players had smiles at night's end.

Nazareth's Shawn Mitchell, Pius X's Luke Texeira and Easton's Patrick Murphy were among the many defensive standouts for the Gold.

Allen's Wes Mravlag, Salisbury's Tony David and Northwestern's Garrett Lerner were among those making plays for the Red.

"It's not the way you wanted it to end, but it's better than losing," Steckel said. "If we're going to play a 'Replay' game, it would be better to do it sooner than later before these guys get out of shape."

Steckel was only kidding, but he wasn't kidding when he said it was a weird feeling to have a tie.

"I don't know how to react," he said. "This never happens anymore."

Lehigh Carbon Monroe Gold0070 — 7

North'pton/Pburg/Palisades0070 — 7

NPP — Andrew Hardy 1 run, (Chris Rodrigues kick) 9:03 3rd Q (1 play, 1 yard)

LCM — Kellan McCants 16 pass from Brady Knerr (Tyler Sickler kick) 3rd Q 5:25 (4 plays, 26 yards).

Notes: Rich Adams (Pocono Mountain West) and Luke Texeira (Pius X) were named team MVPs for their hustle during practices.

FROM KEITH GROLLER