Lacey Midget Football Players Headed to All-Star Week

While many kids their age are thinking about Christmas, eighth-graders Jake Post, Mark Sheppard and Lucas Bivona are thinking about football.

That’s because the trio of players from the Lacey Midget American Youth Football team is on their way to Orlando to join the New Jersey regional all-star team and participate in the American Youth Football National All-Star Tournament next week.

Keith Perrone, head coach of the Lacey Midget squad, said the boys were among 75 players – out of 600 in their age group in New Jersey – chosen to try out for the regional team, and made the cut for the final 30 players representing New Jersey next week.

Nationally, AYF has eight regional all-star teams that will be playing all week, with each team playing at least three games. The regional team that wins three games will be crowned the national champions, Perrone said.

The boys also will meet professional football players and coaches and participate in a variety of activities during the week, Perrone said.

All three boys are two-way players, playing on the offensive and defensive lines, Perrone said, with Jake Post additionally playing fullback.

“They have been practicing throughout the last few weeks in several locations throughout Ocean and Monmouth counties,” he said.

“All three boys are special kids,” Perrone said. “They had other options and chose to play for our team this year. It is great they they were rewarded with this great honor. This is the first time in Lacey's youth football history that our boys were chosen to play in a national all-star game and we expect to have even more next year.”

In addition to the boys headed for Florida, two other players represented the Lacey squad at the New Jersey American Youth Football Midget conference All-Star game on Sunday, Nov. 27 at the Marlboro Youth Football complex.

Patrick Davis and Joey Bogdany were chosen from Lacey as all-stars on the A Division team against an all-star team representing the B Division, and helped lead the A Division to a 36-16 victory.

“Joey had two receptions for 80 yards on offense and from his safety position on defense had an interception which he returned to the opponent’s 10-yard line.” Perrone said.

“Patrick was an exceptional kicker. He kicked three two-point PAT conversions and kept his opponents in poor field positions by pinning them deep into their own side of the field with booming kickoffs,” Perrone said. “In addition, he made four tackles as a cornerback on defense.”

"Both boys represented Lacey well and we are very proud of them. Both boys worked hard all year and we were glad to see them be able to shine on this bigger stage," Perrone said.

Lacey was one of 28 teams that voted to approve the move by the Jersey Shore organization from Pop Warner to AYF last March. Perrone said it has been a very good move.

“AYF gave us many more opportunities than Pop Warner,” Perrone said. “Our teams were invited to a preseason bowl game in the beginning of the season. We went on a three-day trip to Canton, Ohio, visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame and went to a Cleveland Browns exhibition game.

“Plus having conference all-stars and having our best get to spend a dream week in Florida,” Perrone said.