MONTGOMERY – The North scored 21 second-half points – including a wild and crazy touchdown on the last play of the game to beat the North 27-14 in the 59^th AHSAA North-South All-Star Football Game at Cramton Bowl Thursday night.
    The game closed out the 2018 All-Star Sports Week competition with the North and South               splitting the baseball, softball, basketball and cross-country all-star events. The North swept the volleyball, soccer and football games and finished 7-4 on the week.
     The football victory was the fourth in a row for the North and closed the South’s edge in the series to 30-27-2. The South’s last win came in 2014 in a 20-12 win. The North won the first game played in 1948 at Tuscaloosa, 33-0. Thursday’s game was the first to played officially using the AHSAA instant replay program provided by DVSports. Two calls where challenged and both calls on the field were confirmed. The AHSAA has permission from the NFHS to conduct up to a three-year experiment using instant replay and will use it this fall for all schools who choose to participate.
     North MVP Keaton Wilson of Sylacauga scored two TDs on 1-yard runs. His first score at 8:35 of the second quarter gave the North, coached by Chris Musso of Locust Fork, a 6-0 lead. His second TD came with 2:35 left in the third period and erased a 7-6 South lead. His two-point conversion gave the North  14-7 Lead.
     Quenton Young of Clay-Chalkville dashed  11 yards for a score with two seconds left in the third period to up the margin to 21-7.
        The South, which took its only lead of the game on Benjamin Russell running back Davede Herron’s 8-yard run and Fairhope kicker Cole Deeds’ extra point and held the 7-6 margin into intermission.  Herron added his second score on a 1-yard run with 6:26 remaining to cut the margin to 21-14.
       The North ran out all but eight seconds of the remaining time on its following drive. The South, coached by Montgomery Catholic’s Aubrey Blackwell, had one more play up its sleeve as they took over on their own 7-yard line. Tallassee’s Casey Baynes passed the Blount’s JaMarcus Powe-Mauldin in the flat, who ran for four yards before lateraling back to Baynes. Four laterals later, North linebacker Perry Kirby of Athens scooped up a fumble at the 1 and fell into the end zone for the North’s final touchdown.
     Wilson finished with 72 yards rushing on 14 carries and Young had 69 on 15 attempts to help the North pile up 211 total rushing yards. Wilson was also 2-of-3 passing for 56 yards and West Morgan’s Gabe Peluso finished 4-of-5 for 47 yards. Carson Bobo of Oak Mountain had two catches for 46 yards and London Knight of Weaver had two for 37 yards.
    Herron, the South MVP, finished as the game’s leading rusher with 111 yards on 18 tries. Leonard Gatson of Theodore picked up 46 on eight carries. Goshen quarterback Brock Snyder finished 9-of-15 passing for 66 yards, and Bayes was 5-of-10 for 14 yards. The North made three interceptions, however, with Jaylen Washington of Leeds, Court Coley of Westbrook Christian and Kevin Shaw of Colbert Heights notching one each.
     Gordo linebackers Collin Herring and Ridge Wood led the North with 11 and 9 tackles, respectively. Coley also had seven. Pacing the South defense was Jacobey Hawthorne of W.S. Neal with eight stops. Jonathan Struggs of Jeff Davis and Ty Reynolds of Daphne had seven each.
   The South finished with 14 first downs and 239 total yards while the North had 18 first downs and 314 total yards.
   

All-Star Sports Week Results
THURSDAY
Football
North 27, South 14
Volleyball
South 3, North 1

WEDNESDAY
Cross Country
Girls: South 27, North 28
Boys: South 20, North 41

Basketball
Girls:  North 66, South 57
Boys: South 61, North 57

TUESDAY
Baseball
Game 1: South 3, North 2
Soccer
Girls: North 2, South 0
Boys: North 2, South 1
Softball
Game 1: South 3, North 0
Game 2: North 5, South 4

Series Records (Through 2018)
Football – South leads 30-27-2
Boys Basketball – North leads 48-28
Girls Basketball – North leads 19-38

Baseball – North leads 23-12-1
Softball – North leads 25-21-3
Boys Soccer – North leads 11-4-1

Girls Soccer – North leads 15-2-1

Volleyball – North leads 14-7

Boys Cross Country – North and South tied at 1-1

Girls Cross Country – North and South are tied at 1-1

CONTACT RON INGRAM AT RINGRAM@AHSAA.COM