By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor

For one last time in their high school career, local football players took to the gridiron to participate in the Southwest Ohio Football Coaches’ Association East/West game, held June 9 at Kings High School. Thanks to three touchdown receptions and a pair of interceptions by Withrow’s Aaron Shannon, the East squad held on for a 21-12 victory in the 40th match between the two squads.
Glen Este quarterback Tyler Pilcher earned the start under center for the East, completing one of his first three pass attempts of the game, leading to a punt.
The West team started moving the ball, picking up a pair of first downs before advancing into East territory. The drive ended there with Kings defensive end Blake Bockrath intercepting a pass, the first of four first-half turnovers for the West.
After an East drive stalled, Shannon picked off the first of his two passes to return the ball to the East squad. Again, the West defense held, and the teams ended the first quarter scoreless.
New Richmond head coach Josh Stratton served as the coach for the squad, and said he believed the secondary did a good job getting in the passing lanes.
“They did a great job flying to the ball,” Stratton said. “We pursued well and tackled well, and if you do that you’re going to shut a lot of people down.”
The East finally broke the scoring seal midway through the second quarter. Pilcher started the drive by picking up nine yards on a run. Three plays later and facing a 4th-and-18 from the 38, Pilcher connected with Aaron Shannon to keep the drive alive, then hit him again from 16 yards out for the game’s first touchdown.
Stratton said his team’s offense improved greatly once they discovered a winning offensive formula.
“We threw it to the guy they couldn’t defend,” Stratton said. “It wasn’t rocket science. We just tried to get the right matchup we wanted on Aaron Shannon, and once we did the line did a great job protecting the quarterback and he did a great job putting it where Shannon could catch it.”
New Richmond’s Austin Torrens converted the extra point, giving the East a 7-0 lead.
The score would stay that way until the very end of the third quarter. Ross’ Dustin Foley hit Western Hills wideout Juwaun Tye for an eight-yard score, but the East blocked the extra point to maintain a slim 7-6 lead.
Shannon struck again for the East in the fourth quarter. A drive lasting over three minutes pulled the East All-Stars to the West 38 yard-line, where they faced fourth down. Shannon dove to haul in a pass from CHCA’s Johhny Noyen, his second touchdown grab of the game. Again, Torrens converted the extra point, pushing the East lead to 14-6.
The West squad answered with a drive that lasted just over three minutes and ended in a touchdown run by Elder’s JaVahri Portis, cutting the margin to 14-12.
Shannon had one more touchdown left, catching a pass from Pilcher that was tipped by a defensive back for his third score of the game.
The East squad would hold on to win, forcing a turnover on downs on the West’s final drive.
In addition to his two defensive interceptions, Shannon also had six tackles and a pass breakup on defense. Amelia’s Jacob Pangallo finished with 1.5 tackles, while Williamsburg’s Spencer Clowery picked up half a tackle, which went for a loss.
On offense, Pilcher completed seven of his 16 pass attempts for 112 yards and two touchdowns. He was also intercepted once. Glen Este’s Robby Boone picked up four carries for 23 yards while Bethel-Tate’s Jeffrey Botts rushed for three yards on two carries. Botts also had a three-yard reception.
Shannon hauled in four passes for 95 yards and three touchdowns, while Boone caught two passes for 45 yards, 36 of which came on one play. Torrens had one reception, losing a yard.
Stratton said the thing about the team’s performance that impressed him the most was how well the team worked together, especially since the squad began practicing together less than a month ago.
“I thought the most impressive thing about our team was that we played well together,” Stratton said. “These are a bunch of guys that just met each other for the most part three weeks ago.”
Stratton said it was special for him to be able to coach Torrens and offensive lineman Tyler Sammons in their last high school game, especially since they were able to pull off the victory.
“It was pretty special,” Stratton said. “I coached them for three years and to get to coach them in their official last high school game before they go on to play in college was really cool. To be able to walk off the field as winners was the best part. I thought they both played well. Torrens kicked well and played solid at wide receiver and Sammons did well on the offensive line. It’s really special to be able to coach your own guys in an all-star game.”