Bluefield Daily Telegraph

By MARCUS CONSTANTINO

BLUEFIELD — Those in attendance of the second annual Southwest Virginia Touchdown Club’s Blue & Gray All Star Game witnessed as thrilling of a game as one could expect from the best of the best of the region.

The Blue All-Stars came back from a 13-6 third quarter deficit to defeat the Gray All-Stars 26-21 on Friday at Mitchell Stadium.

However, even after the Gray All Stars’ heartbreaking loss, only a feeling of brotherhood could be felt at the end of the game as the players and fans gathered at midfield for prayer and the awards presentation by game organizer Bill “Frog” Millhorn.

Defense dominated the game in the first quarter. While the Gray All-Stars had a field goal opportunity, the kick was off, leaving the game scoreless after the first 15 minutes of play.

The second quarter was kicked off with Honaker High School graduate Josh VanDyke sacking Terrence Mazon, who accumulated 283 passing yards on his way to claiming the offensive MVP award.  Mazon lost 12 yards on the play, bringing up a 2nd and 22 situation, but he recovered with back-to-back first down passes.

With 10:26 to go in the second quarter, Mazon completed a 5 yard pass to Will Freeman for the first touchdown of the Blue-Gray All Star Game at Mitchell Stadium. John Honaker followed up with the extra point to give the Blue Team a 7-0 lead.

Two consecutive losses by the Gray All-Stars, including a sack by Castlewood High’s Clayton Mullins for a loss of seven, made the Gray All-Stars next offensive stand look grim, but Dylan Kidd came through with a diving catch on the far end of the turf for a 36 yard gain, and with 4:20 to go in the half, Will Freeman found wide open territory in the Blue Team end zone and caught another 36 yard pass from Mazon for a touchdown, pushing the White Team to a 13-0 lead going into the half.

With 13:39 to go in the third quarter, a long pass by the Gray Team’s Mazon was picked off by Richlands graduate Sean Overton at his own 28 yard line and returned to the Blue Team’s 47. However, three consecutive losses put the Blue Team into a 4th and 21 situation, forcing a punt.

With 3:33 to go in the third, after an unproductive Gray Team possession, the Blue Team was faced with a critical fourth and 12 situation. Nick Smith, a Lebanon graduate, ran up the middle for a 15 yard gain bringing the Blue Team into field goal range.

However, the Blue Team wouldn’t need to call the three-point play; Smith threw a pass to John Honaker for a 26-yard touchdown, the first of the night for the Blue All-Stars. The Gray Team held on to a slim 13-6 lead at the end of the third quarter.

In the third play of the fourth quarter, Smith suffered a shoulder injury and was carried off the field by coaches and teammates. Smith had 128 passing yards in the contest.

The Blue All-Stars pushed on, though, picking up 26-yard touchdown run from Gate City standout Joseph Vaughn. However, a two-point conversion attempt to take the lead fell short, leaving the Gray All-Stars with a 13-12 lead.

Vaughn made up for his team’s shortfall, though. After the Blue Team forced a punt, Vaughn evaded three Gray tackles to run a 55 yard touchdown.

Castlewood High graduate Ryan McCall’s pass to Overton for a two-point conversion was good, allowing the Blue All-Stars, who were down by 13 at halftime, to take a 20-13 lead with 11:26 to go in the game.

The Gray Team struck back with 7:47 to go. Pressured over 15 yards back from the line of scrimmage, Mazon launched a pass that flew nearly 50 yards through the air into the awaiting hands of Jerad Brown to close in on the Blue All-Stars’ lead.

After dropping back for a pass and finding no openings, Mazon took matters into his own hands, driving up the middle and diving into the end zone in spectacular fashion to put the Gray All-Stars ahead 21-20.

However, The Blue Team had the final say in the game, with no time to spare.

With just seconds on the clock, McCall launched a 15 yard pass to Overton to give the game a thrilling finale. With four seconds remaining on the clock, the Gray All-Stars couldn’t mount a comeback.

Jeremiah Cooke of J.J. Kelly High School won the defensive MVP award. The Blue Team All-Star had six tackles in the contest.

Millhorn laughed with his players after the game as he described the selection process of the MVP’s.

“I saw a lot of good hits. I watched, and I heard, and I liked it,” Millhorn said. “How many of you guys wanna go on? You wanna keep playing this thing every year?” Millhorn asked the players. “Well, we’re going to.”



2011

All-Star Game Program

Honaker High All-Star makes a crushing block on Chilhowie High All-Star Ammi Fields.