CLYDE -? One good half wasn?t enough for the Suburban Lakes League Monday night.
The SLL led at the half, but the Sandusky Bay Conference rallied for an 18-14 win in the ninth annual
Suburban Sandusky All-Star football game.
The game matches the recently-graduated seniors from the two leagues.
Sandusky St. Mary?s Cameron Fulford scored on a 1-yard fumble return and Huron?s Cameron Koenig added a
35-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, enabling the SBC to erase a 14-6 deficit.
The SLL had just 38 yards rushing and 37 yards passing in the second half.
?Their defense really turned up the heat,? said Gibsonburg quarterback Tony Egbert, who was named the
SLL?s most valuable offensive player.
Egbert completed 10-of-14 passes for 152 yards in the first half, but was just 4-of-11 for 37 yards with
two interceptions in the second half.
The SBC put heavy pressure on Egbert during the final two quarters. The SLL turned the ball over on three
straight possessions, resulting in Fulford?s touchdown and an interception by Clyde?s Tyler Dix that led
to Koenig?s winning touchdown.
?They were really coming after us. It seemed like they were in our backfield the whole second half,?
Egbert said. ?Their defense played well.?
The 6-foot-4, 180-pound Egbert was 14-of-25 for 189 yards, but the SLL had just 43 yards rushing.
The SLL never trailed in the first half, scoring on a 12-yard pass from Egbert to Genoa?s Zack Apel in
the first quarter and a 1-yard run by Eastwood?s Ashton Brown in the second quarter.
Apel?s touchdown was set up by an interception by Gibsonburg?s Nick Baker, who returned to the ball to
the SBC 20-yard line.
Egbert hit Brown out of the backfield for an 11-yard gain to the right and then found Apel on a slant at
the right goalpost on a 12-yard scoring pass three plays later. Eastwood?s Jason Faykosh kicked the
extra point for a 7-0 lead with 1:25 remaining in the first quarter.
The SBC scored on its next possession on a 38-yard pass from Huron?s Michael Mielke to Clyde?s Tyler
Ludrowsky on the right side with 10:23 to play in the first half, but the extra-point kick hit the right
upright and the SLL kept the lead.
Eastwood?s Matt Schlumbohm returned the ensuing kickoff to the SBC 44 and the SLL increased its lead to
14-6 seven plays later.
Egbert threw to Apel, who took the ball away from two defenders on the right side, for a 27-yard gain on
the first play and later found Apel again for a 20-yard again to move the ball to the 2. On the second
catch, Apel made an over the shoulder catch on the left side.
Brown scored on a 1-yard run and Faykosh made the extra point with 6:17 left in the half.
?We did a good job of mixing the run and the pass,? Egbert said.
Brown and Apel each caught four passes in the first half.
The SBC closed to within 14-12 on Fulford?s TD with 7:34 left in the third quarter.
Elmwood?s Shannon Stewart intercepted a pass at the SLL 4, but the SLL quarterback couldn?t handle the
snap on the first play after the interception. The ball squirted right to Fulford, a lineman, who made
the catch and stepped into the end zone.
The SBC thought it had tied the game with a two-point conversion pass, but the officials ruled the
receiver stepped out of bounds and the came back into the field of play to make the catch.
After the interception by Dix stopped the SLL on its next possession, Koenig scored on his 35-yard run
around let end with 4:13 to play in the quarter. The two-point pass failed, but the SBC held an 18-14
lead.
On its next possession, the SLL drove to a first-and-goal at the SBC 7. But three straight 5-yard
penalties ? the first two for illegal procedure and the last for an illegal shift ? stopped the drive.
The drive included a 22-yard catch by Schlumbohm.
?Those penalties happen when you?re trying to get new people into the game,? said Eastwood?s Jerry
Rutherford, one of the SLL?s coaches.
The SBC totaled 252 yards, including 179 yards rushing.
?Our defense played well,? Rutherford said.
The teams played a hard-hitting and physical game. Lake defensive back Mike Mathews was named the SLL?s
most valuable defensive player.
?It was a good game,? Rutherford said.
The SBC holds a 7-2 lead in the series, avenging the SLL?s 12-7 win last season.
?The kids had a lot of fun. All of the kids were great kids and that made for a great week,? said
Rutherford, one of the organizers of the SLL team every year. ?Every year I don?t know if I?m going to
do this, but then I do it and I have a great time because of the kids.?
SUBURBAN SANDUSKY
ALL-STAR FOOTBALL GAME
SANDUSKY BAY CONFERENCE 18,
SUBURBAN LAKES LEAGUE 14
SLL 7 7 0 0 ?14
SBC 0 6 12 0 ?18
SLL ? Apel, 12 pass from Egbert (Faykosh kick)
SBC ? Ludrowsky, 38 pass from Mielke (kick failed)
SLL ? Brown, 1 run (Faykosh kick)
SBC ? Fulford, 1 fumble return (pass failed)
SBC ? Koenig, 35 run (run failed)
TEAM STATISTICS
Category SLL SBC
First downs 13 13
By rushing 2 10
By passing 11 3
By penalty 0 0
Total net yards 232 252
Rushing 43 179
Passing 189 73
Attempts 25 11
Completions 14 4
Interceptions 2 2
Punts/average 5/37.2 6/36.0
Penalties/yards 9/50 2/10
Fumbles/lost 2/1 3/0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: (SLL) Schlumbohm, 6-4; Bottesch, 1-5; Mikels, 2-4; Brown, 11-23; Egbert, 3-7. (SBC) Thorne,
13-83; Mielke, 8-20; Cullen, 2-22; Acierto, 7-18; Koenig, 5-36.
PASSING: (SLL) Egbert, 14-25-2?189. (SBC) Mielke, 4-9-1?73; Acierto, 0-2-1?0.
RECEIVING: (SLL) Apel, 4-96; Brown, 5-44; Forry, 2-15; Schlumbohm, 3-34. (SBC) Lehrer, 1-3; Dix, 1-12;
Ludrowsky, 1-38; Neuberger, 1-20.
Faykosh received the SLL?s Jack Burgess Sportsmanship Award.