North’s dominance continues in Pinellas County All-Star Game

CLEARWATER — A stacked North squad featuring a trio of quarterbacks who threw for almost 7,000 yards this season struggled against a staunch South defense, but produced enough for a 17-0 victory in the 25th edition of the Pinellas County All-Star Classic on Wednesday night at Clearwater High School.

The victory marked the North’s 13th in the past 15 meetings.​

A biting westerly wind wreaked havoc with the North early and knocked down a pair of punts in the first quarter, giving the South prime starting positions at the 14- and 25-yard lines respectively. However, the visitors were missing some key weapons like dual-threat quarterbacks Greg Spann II from Lakewood and Canterbury’s Keshawn Fuller, Lakewood wideout T.J. Tampa as well as standout Pinellas Park running back Lawrance Toafili. And the absence showed.​

As a result, East Lake's Josh Dupree stuffed a South running back for a loss on fourth down followed by a diving interception from defensive MVP Damon Byrnes-Mitchell of Countryside, one of three turnovers forced by the North on the night.​

The North scored the only points it would need in the second quarter when Clearwater quarterback Rent Montie hit Calvary Christian’s Shelton Quarles Jr. on a 42-yard catch-and-run. ​

Tarpon Springs kicker Alexander Wilson added a 38-yard second-quarter field goal while the North wrapped its scoring in the third when East Lake’s Matt Trotto found teammate Rayshaun Williams in the back of the end zone for a 12-yard TD toss.​

Cann-do​

Clearwater defensive back Chendrick Cann was playing Wednesday for more than the love of the game. He was playing for his future.​

“I feel I’m underlooked,” Cann said after a performance that earned him overall MVP honors. “I only have one offer from (Division II) Warner University, so hopefully this gets it going.”​

The “this” Cann talked about was a stellar two-interception effort, a leaping grab in the South end zone late in the first half and an aggressive grab over a South receiver early in the third quarter that set up the North’s final touchdown.​

“I’ve got the Blue-Grey All-American Game coming up at Raymond James (in January), I’ve been talking to a few schools and sending film to a lot of different schools. I love football so much so I just want to make the best of it. You never know when it’ll be your last time on the field.”​

Home finale​

Tornadoes quarterback Montie was all smiles after the North victory, his final game on a field where he made so much history.​

“It's been a helluva ride,” said the senior after a school-record 2,400-yard, 25-touchdown 2019. “I love this field. Obviously, I have a ton of memories and it was great to come out and have a good time to finish it up.”​

The lone regret: “I'm kind of bummed that I didn't get it to (teammate) Keedrik (Murray for a touchdown), but other than that I had a good time.”​

Montie hit on two passes for 52 yards while Calvary’s Harold Cook connected on 8 of 12 passes for 100 yards, and Trotto was 2 of 5 for 23 yards and his TD.​

No Quarles with his effort​

As a resident of Hillsborough County, Calvary receiver Quarles made a lot of new friends during the week’s practices leading up to Wednesday night.​

“Probably just getting to know everybody was the best part of the week,” the senior said. “Sitting in the locker room talking game plans, going out to eat … I like learning and I try to get a piece of knowledge from every single person I talked to on this team.”​

On top of that, Quarles not only scored a touchdown but had catches on three consecutive plays on the next possession for 38 yards to set up the North’s field goal.​

“I’ll definitely just keep on grinding,” Quarles said of his upcoming offseason. “Just keep working and not be satisfied.”​

Award winners​

As a result of their outstanding efforts, Tanner Coad of Admiral Farragut was named best offensive lineman and CCC’s Kayson Romaelle best defensive lineman.