EWING TOWNSHIP—Four years of waiting paid off for Rahway senior running back Andrew Avent in his final scholastic high school game.
On the first play of the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s Phil Simms North-South All-Star Football Classic, Avent lined up to receive the snap in wildcat formation in a 3rd-and-goal situation from the 6.
The Rahway star had run for nearly 2,000 yards in his senior season, and had scored the North’s only touchdown of the game on a wildcat run earlier in the night.
This time, though, Avent had something else up his sleeve: a Tim Tebow-esque jump pass that floated past two South defenders and into the arms of Phillipsburg’s Sam Dech in the end zone, giving the North all the cushion it would need to hold off the South, 14-6, in the 48th annual North-South game before a terrific crowd at the College of New Jersey.
“I’ve never been able to get that play to work, and we’ve been trying for four years,” Avent said with a smile. “It’s been something we tried in 7-on-7s and games, and for whatever reason we just haven’t executed it. So it was nice to end my high school career getting it right, and it was a big spot in the game. We snapped the ball, it looked like it was covered, so I had to shuffle my feet a couple steps to the side, and the ball just got where it needed to go.”
On a glorious late-spring evening celebrating more than 90 of New Jersey’s top high school football seniors, Avent was a standout two-way performer for the North, rushing for a team-high 45 yards and accounting for both touchdowns, as his 2-yard run just before halftime gave the North a 7-6 lead. Avent also put the finishing touches on the North win with a strip-sack of South quarterback Jason Lajara (Brick Memorial) in the final minute of play, which was recovered by defensive lineman Anthony Valera (Ridge).
“It means everything to be out here one last time,” Avent said. “Not everyone gets the opportunity to play in a game like this, and I’m grateful to all my coaches and teammates for making it happen. Just to be out here with these guys, it’s tough, you know, because we don’t get a lot of time [to practice together], and you’ve gotta’ figure out how to play as a team. But we got along great, and I thought we were a well-oiled machine out there.”
Avent was named the North’s Offensive MVP for his work, while linebacker Jerome Hayes Jr. (Bayonne) picked up Defensive MVP for the team. Governor Livingston standout David Dorsett was selected as the North’s offensive lineman of the game.
Jaylen Day-Thompson of Atlantic City picked up South Offensive MVP honors after catching 4 passes for 87 yards, including his team’s lone touchdown on a 65-yard bomb from Colonia’s Dylan Chiera in the first quarter. Linebacker Julien Jones (Colonia) was named Defensive MVP, while Allentown's Nicolas Lagura was recognized as the South's top offensive lineman.
With the win, the North edges back in front in the all-time series, 22-21-2, and has won five of the last six games played dating back to 2019, with all six of those games decided by one score. Saturday’s contest was the first North-South game to be played at TCNJ since 1997, as Kean University in Union, the game’s regular site since 2009, was unavailable due to the ongoing FIFA World Cup. A strong crowd, including a healthy turnout among the South fans, enjoyed an action-packed doubleheader of all-star football action, with the girls’ flag football contest leading into the boys’ game under pristine late-spring weather conditions.
The game itself was a defensive battle, as both teams struggled to run the ball consistently against outstanding front sevens. In the end, it would be a handful of plays in the passing game that made the difference.
