Each year the best senior high school football players from all throughout the Lehigh Valley get together for one final game.

Last Thursday, the 49th Annual McDonald’s’s Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic was held at it’s traditional location, Nazareth High School’s Leh Stadium.

The Red team, made up of players from high schools in Lehigh, Carbon and Monroe counties, beat the Gold team (Northampton County, Phillipsburg and Palisades high schools) 28-14.

While everyone on the field wanted to win the game, they also realized the biggest winners of the night were the Ronald McDonald charities as proceeds from the event benefit the Ronald McDonald House.

“The best part of it was this is for a charity,” said Salisbury High School senior Jacob Kamp, an outside linebacker who plans to continue his career at Susquehanna University. “I love helping out the Ronald McDonald House. I’m definitely going to visit in Philly and help out as much as I can in the future.”

The Red team got on the board first when, on its first offensive possession of the game, Ryan Clark (East Stroudsburg South) took a handoff from the two-yard line and headed to the end zone.

The ball was jarred loose from Clark before he reached the goal line, and it bounced into the end zone. Parkland lineman Michael Bennett was in the right place at the right time. He fell on the ball to record the first touchdown of his varsity career.

“I was blocking the guy back three yards,” said Bennett. “I looked down. I saw the ball and I fell. I stood up and it was a touchdown. That’s what happened. I was excited. I ran around the field a little bit.

“I’ve never even touched the football before in varsity. It was nice to have that opportunity, especially in the last game of my high school career.”

The Red team went up 14-0 after a Gold fumble was recovered by East Stroudsburg North’s Brian Finnerty at the Red 15-yard line.

Led by Southern Lehigh quarterback Logan Edmond, the Red marched 85 yards in nine plays, capped by Edmond’s touchdown pass to Benny Pembleton (Stroudsburg) for a 14-0 lead with 11:16 left in the first half.

The Gold team answered two plays into its next possession. Phillipsburg quarterback Jack Stagaard found Jake Gillen (Notre Dame-Green Pond) for a 52-yard score to cut the lead to 14-7.

The Red team’s next drive was stopped when Easton’s Damion Smith picked off a pass from quarterback Sherwin Steward (Stroudsburg) in the end zone. Four plays later Bethlehem Catholic quarterback Zamar Brake connected with David Sanders Jr. (Notre Dame Green Pond) for a 59-yard touchdown that tied the game at 14-14 with 5:23 left in the first half.

The Red team went back in front on it’s first possession of the second half. Edmond found Whitehall’s Joe Herman for a 53-yard touchdown with 9:22 left in the third quarter for a 21-14 Red lead.

Herman, who caught nine passes for 228 yards in the game, had a 50-yard TD called back because of offensive pass interference.

The Red team capped the scoring with 3:51 left in the game when Edmond (14-for-18, 268 yards) hit Jaunte Williams (Allen) with a pass for a four-yard score.

While both teams featured players who battled against one another over the last few high school football seasons and some for even longer, they became teammates for one final game.

“It was cool,” said Emmaus defensive tackle Jake Wieder. “I’ve always grown up thinking of them as the other team, always wanting to beat them. We came together and we all had a common goal of beating the other team. It was a different aspect. I liked it.”

Wieder was one of three Hornets selected to the team. Deonte Castro and Timmy Higgins were also on the Red roster.

Kamp was one of two Salisbury players that made the team. Delano McKenzie was also selected to play in the game.

Bennett was one of three Trojans that were selected to play in the game. Teammates Joey Guida and Cory Border were also picked for the Red team.