East defense earns shutout in East-West All-Star game in Greensboro
The East shut down the West’s offense Wednesday night and pounded out a 14-0 victory in the 74th N.C. Coaches Association All-Star Game in Greensboro.
The West managed only 123 yards of total offense and never got inside the East’s 30-yard line.
West quarterback Wesley Thompson, a Maiden High graduate who is headed to Wingate University, threw for 62 yards but spent much of the night scrambling to avoid the East defense.
Meanwhile, the East scored on a long pass late in the first half and added a touchdown on a lengthy drive in the fourth quarter.
West head coach Kennedy Tinsley, of Mallard Creek High, tried to establish a running game, but the East defense would have none of it.
The West totaled 36 rushing yards on 22 carries, with East standouts Dayreon Jennings (Lee County) and Ahmaree Smith (North Brunswick) doing much of the work for the defense.
Jennings, named the game’s Most Valuable Defensive Player, had seven tackles (four solo); two tackles for loss; a forced fumble; and two sacks. Smith finished with six solo tackles, one for loss; an interception; and a sack.
Neither team’s offense put together a sustained drive in the first half.
The East broke the shutout when Keno Jones (Northern Nash) tossed a short pass to Shamar Sutton (Northeastern), who broke a tackle and dashed 47 yards for a touchdown with 1:20 left in the second quarter.
The other touchdown came on a 6-yard run by Avery Gaby (East Duplin) with 7:56 to play. That score capped an eight-play, 50-yard drive.
The closest the West came to a threat came late in the third quarter.
Trailing 7-0, the West drove to the East 33, with the big play being a 14-yard pass from Thompson to Brodie Smith (Davie County). But Thompson was sacked for a loss of 8 yards on the next play, and the West’s drive stalled.
Keno Jones was named the game’s Most Valuable Offensive Player. He rushed eight times for 80 yards and completed 7-of-10 passes for 61 yards.
This marked the last time that the all-star football game will be played in July.
The N.C. Coaches Association has decided to move the game to December, starting with the 2023 season. Coaches said the new date will help college coaches in the recruiting process and would enable more top seniors to play in the game. With the July date for the all-star games, a number of graduated seniors are already on college campuses.
That means this fall’s seniors will play in December, a week after the public school state championships. An exact date and time has not been announced, but the game will be played at Grimsley High, traditional site of the contest.
With Tuesday night’s football victory, the East won four of the five all-star contests this week.
The West captured the boys’ basketball game Monday, but the East took the girls’ basketball contest Monday and then swept the girls’ and boys’ soccer matches Tuesday.
Game Summary
East 0 7 0 7 – 14
West 0 0 0 0 – 0
(East) Shamar Sutton 47 pass from Keno Jones (Douglas Merritt kick)
(East) Avery Gaby 6 run (Merritt kick)
Att. – 4,762
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
