BROCKWAY — Defense, for the most part, was king on Friday night.
For Justin Bienkowski’s North squad, however, the 6th Annual Frank Varischetti All-Star Game was as much about the week preceding the contest as it was about the game itself.
The South used a pair of second-half touchdowns to edge the North, 14-12, in a game that wasn’t decided until its final two minutes. And, despite the North’s second loss in six tries against the South, Bienkowski’s team prompted a sense of pride as it left the field.
“Win, lose or draw, this game was not going to change our week. We loved our week,” said Bienkowski, who doubles as the Port Allegany boss. “I don’t think we lost 14-12 because our kids weren’t prepared. A couple of things just didn’t go our way. That’s football, that’s sports, that’s life.”
After being blanked in the first half, the South returned the favor by shutting down the North’s offense in the second stanza.
The game started slow. A few penalties, bad snaps and fumbles underscored the first quarter before the North, composed of players from the former Allegheny Mountain League, found its footing in the second.
Zuke Smith hit Mitchell Reiter for a 17-yard touchdown on the second play of the second quarter. Reiter broke across the middle of the field before Smith hit him in the numbers, allowing Reiter to split a pair of would-be tacklers and glide into the end zone.
Smith, from Kane, finished 5-for-14 passing for 60 yards and the TD to St. Marys’ Reiter. He added 53 yards on the ground, including a 26-yard scamper in the second half. Smith, who will play at Alfred University in the fall, was named the North’s Offensive Most Valuable Player.
“There’s a kid that’s going to play next-level football,” Bienkowski said. “He has every right to kind of poo-poo the coaching or tell us that he knows what he’s doing and to let him go, but he took every ounce of coaching that we gave him all week long like he was a freshman. I don’t care what he ever does on a football field; I’m a Zuke Smith fan because he’s a high-character kid.”
Smith shared the North’s QB duties with Ridgway’s Ben Briggs, who doubled the team’s 6-0 lead in the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Elkers teammate Dominic Cherry. Briggs finished 5-of-5 passing for 73 yards while rushing for seven yards.
The North took a 12-0 lead into the half, but was forced to play the second half without Smethport running back/defensive back Braedon Johnson, who was forced to exit after falling victim to an illegal crack-back block late in the first half.
Johnson racked up a team-high eight tackles in just the first half. And, despite not being able to play a down after halftime, he was named the North’s Defensive Most Valuable Player.
“Braedon Johnson is a game changer,” Bienkowski said. “Braedon is a class human being who happens to be a hell of an athlete. He earns and deserves every bit of accolades he gets. You don’t remove a kid like that from the game and not feel the impact.”
The second half started as well as the first finished for the North’s defense, which kept the South quiet until a 41-yard touchdown pass shifted the game’s momentum.
Quarterback Jack Krug threw a near-perfect ball to receiver Dale Kot, who went up and over a North defender to pull down the touchdown.
Things continued to grow worse for the North on its next offensive play, when the South recovered a fumbled snap at midfield.
With all of the momentum, quarterback Calvin German found an open Nathan Waltman in the end zone. The 6-foot-5 tight end not only scored that touchdown, but tallied the 2-point conversion on the previous score.
That 2-pointer, while seemingly minuscule at the time, proved to be the difference.
Waltman was named the South’s offensive Most Valuable Player.
“I’m super proud of how our kids handled some adversity, some choppiness,” Bienkowski said. “You can call them late hits, not late, whatever they were. Our guys handled everything the way that I asked them to all week. Make sure your parents, your grandparents, your family members are proud of you when you walk off that field.”
The North reclaimed some momentum when Ethan Smith intercepted Krug near midfield and returned the ball to the South’s 31-yard line. With 7:38 left on the clock, plenty of time remained to reclaim the lead.
As it hadn’t for the entirety of three quarters, however, the South’s defense didn’t budge.
The North’s final chance came on a 4th-and-5 from deep in the South’s territory with 1:56 left. Unable to find an open receiver, however, Briggs was sacked, allowing the South to run out the clock after the North turned it over on downs.
“Just a little bit of pressure that we weren’t able to figure out,” Bienkowski said. “The quarterbacks tried to make plays.”
Neither side was able to establish a running game. The North’s running backs were held to a combined 23 yards on 16 attempts. The North returned the favor, however, as the South struggled to muster much of any offense outside of its two scoring plays.
Justin Young, TJ VanScoter and Simon Sheely each had five tackles while Ryli Burritt and Terry Williams each racked up three.
Following his first year coaching in the Varischetti game, Bienkowski will look back at the previous week fondly. And, as their postgame expressions and emotions proved, his players will do the same.
“All week, no matter what we did or where we practiced, it was never a pain in the butt to get in the car and drive to wherever,” Bienkowski said. “It was always, ‘Hey coach, how are you?’ It’s just awesome. Very gratifying.”
Each player has graduated from high school and will now tackle whatever their respective future holds. As they do so, however, they’ll have the Varischetti week, and the friends it brings, to carry with them.
“I don’t know how you do it in a week, but I genuinely care about these kids,” Bienkowski said. “They represent District 9 north and I’m very proud of them.”
