Amesbury native Max Sanchez probably couldn’t think of a better way to end his high school football career.
Wednesday night on the Manning Field turf, with Redhawk teammate Christian McGarry by his side and coach Colin McQueen watching from the sidelines, Sanchez was named the North Team MVP in the 62nd annual Agganis All-Star game. The South All-Stars did come out with a 27-16 victory, but Sanchez still ripped off 55 yards on just three carries with a touchdown for his high school sendoff.
And McGarry did his thing, too, recovering a fumble in the third quarter that set up Sanchez’ score.
“Incredible performance from a couple of high-motor ‘Bury boys’ tonight,” said McQueen. “We’re all proud of how you represented Amesbury football.”
Elsewhere locally, Triton had three athletes on the North All-Star team in Liam Londergan, Jack Harding and Ryan Nolan.
North trailed 13-0 at halftime and only had 35 total yards of offense, but Sanchez helped them break out of the slump. The track star took an end-around from Salem QB Corey Grimes that went for 42 yards, setting up a 3-yard TD run from Lowell’s Ebenezer Annan. The North All-Stars then recovered a fumble thanks to McGarry, and Sanchez sprinted in for an 11-yard TD that put his team ahead 16-13 after a 2-point conversion from Salem’s Albert Pujols.
But the South All-Stars quickly regained the lead, for good, on their next possession.
Peabody star Jaden Roman broke off a 28-yard touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter, and Lynn Classical QB Brian Vaughn (12-of-16, 203 yards) delivered the dagger when he found teammate John Nasky for a 79-yard TD. Nasky, who will continue his football career at Pace University, was named South MVP after hauling in 6 catches for 168 yards.
South 27, North 16
62nd Agganis All-Star Football Game
at Manning Field, Lynn
North: 0 0 16 0 16
South: 7 6 0 14 27
Scoring summary
S- Jaden Roman 7 run (Dom Scalese kick)
S- Scalese 22 FG
S- Scalese 27 FG
N- Ebenezer Annan 3 run (Matt Callahan rush)
N- Max Sanchez 11 run (Albert Pujols pass from Corey Grimes)
S- Roman 28 run (Scalese kick)
S- John Nasky 79 pass from Brian Vaughn (Scalese kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: North — Max Sanchez 3-55, Ebenezer Annan 7-32, John Gucciardi 2-(-1), Corey Grimes 6-(-22) ; South — Jaden Roman 6-78, Alex Silva 6-11, Matt LaMonica 2-7, Marcus Rojas 1-4, Brian Vaughn 2-(-5).
PASSING: North — Grimes 14-20-139-0-0; South— Vaughn 12-16-203-1-0.
RECEIVING: North — Cooper Soolamn 4-55, Albert Pujols 3-26, Jayden Prophete 3-21, Gucciardi 1-18, Ryan Nolan 1-12, Annan 1-8, Morenel Castro 1-2; South — John Nasky 8-168, Eli Batista 1-18, Josh Anderson 1-11, Justin Reyes 1-4, Ethan Prum 1-2.