Polamalu Scores, North Falls in MontCo All-Star Clash

SOUDERTON - Any of the 3,200 people at the 2011 Montgomery County All-Star Classic that wanted to see a knock-down, drag-out battle till the end were probably very disapointed with the 38-14 outcome.

In what will never be confused as a crisply played classic clash that will be talked about for the ages, the South rose again to claim the hardware and bragging rights in the  44^th annual grid iron meeting that will be, for many, the last time they step onto a football field to compete.

What the attendees witnessed was an outstanding display of the area's best senior talent in a unique environment that has arch rivals playing together for one purpose and one cause.

“It was (cool) playing we guys that are usually trying to kill you,” said Upper Dublin defensive end Ryan Hopkins. “It has been fun practicing the last few weeks with these guys, we all respect each other and this game is about pride and bragging rights, it’s just a fun game to play in.”

The Souderton Rotary club, which has put on the event since for the past 21 years, will donate a large check to Children’s Tumor Foundation, the primary charity of the event, as a portion of all of the money generated will be donated to help research.

“We love seeing the kids (get) together,” said Jim Church who has been with the SRC since 1970.  “I love high school football and the Maxwell Club came on board last year and they have really helped us get the word out. We had pro football player Dan Klecko here tonight, we can’t get those people here, we are very thankful to have them involved. Just the name Maxwell Football club gets people interested. It’s a great event and very good cause.”

The North had difficulty getting out of its own way offensively, despite a touchdown run by Pottsgrove’s Maika Polamalu, who racked up 42 yards on 11 carries and later converted a two-point conversion in the first quarter to post the only score for the boys in yellow before the half.

 “It was fun to play again with Kayvon (Greene), Danny (Faust), Zach (Robinson) and Wyso (Tyler Wysochanski) one more time,” said Polamalu, who will attend and play ball for the U.S. Naval Academy in the fall. “The defense is pretty easy to get together in a couple weeks of practice. On offense, we spent the first couple of days just getting to know each other. It’s a fun game to play in, I’m not happy with losing, but it was great to play with a lot of the Pac10 guys we have battled with for the last four years.”

Pottstown Dawon Mathews stretched out and hauled in an appear ant touch down pass in the first quarter from Upper Perkiomen’s Casey Perlstien but it was ruled he had landed out of bounds. Mathews did snag a 14-yard pass as the North marched the length of the field, 73 yards to post their second score of the game.

Zach Robinson, who finished his wrestling career this season at Pottsgrove with 126 wins -- a school record -- handled the punting and place kicking for the North, while Tyler Wysochanski  of Pottsgrove recorded a sack and batted down two passes.

The effort put forth by The Hill School’s Kenny King, who rambled for 33 yards on a pitch out to claim the biggest gain of the tilt, and Hohamed Ali-Barry, who batted a ball down and was in on several tackles, was not enough to overcome the ariel assault launched by Germantown Academy quarterback Keith Braccia, who completed 193 yards and posted four scores.

With enough yellow flapping in the breeze to make the teams feel like they were at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, the South was whistled for 17 penalties for more than 140 yards, but the North could not take advantage and translate the fouls into points.

North Penn running back Craig Needhammer -- 7-for35 yards, touchdown -- was named the North MVP, while Cheltenham cornerback Chris Stephens claimed the MVP honors for the North with an interception and four tackles.

“I am done kicking that’s for sure,” said Falcons' Zach Robinson. “My back has been bothering me and I just haven’t been able to get it right. It was fun to play with our guys here. Losing sucks, but it’s a relaxed game where everybody wants to hit someone on the other side. It’s pretty cool to play with guys that usually are trying to knock your head off. I would have loved to see our Pottsgrove varsity play that (All-Star) team.”