West defense pitches shutout with 4 interceptions in 14-0 win East in NKY all-star game

Mike Engler thought it might be a high-scoring game when Northern Kentucky’s senior football players got together for this year’s East-West All-Star Game, based on the offensive performance by both teams in a 7-on-7 scrimmage earlier this week.

The Ryle head coach and head coach of the West team ended up impressed with his team’s defensive effort Thursday night at Dixie Heights.

The West defense controlled the game against the East offense, intercepting four passes on its way to a 14-0 win over the East.

“There were some really good defensive players on our side,” Engler said. “Our defense showed some life.”

Boone County defensive back Dvion Davis was named most valuable player of the game for helping the defensive effort. The West shut down the East’s running game and constantly had East quarterbacks running to evade pressure.

“We were just trying to have fun before going off to college,” Davis said. “We just came out here and had fun. A lot of friends here, a lot of bonding. We came in with the mindset of not biting on moves when they were rolling out.”

Said Engler: “Dvion impressed me. He played really well. He was always there.”

More: Preview: Southwest Ohio East-West All-Star Football Game returns Friday at Princeton

Holmes senior Tayquan Calloway’s 52-yard touchdown run with 1:11 to go in the first half broke a scoreless stalemate.

Cooper quarterback Drew Warth was the West QB for the vast majority of the game.

“It was a great opportunity,” Warth said. “I really loved all my time here. I had a great time getting to know the coaches and players.”

Warth was effective in moving the ball the entire first half, but the West team couldn’t convert that into scores until the end of the first half.

On the first play from scrimmage in the game, Warth lofted a long pass to Scott receiver Cam Patterson for a 44-yard gain. Holmes’ Quantez Calloway rushed 12 yards on the next play, but the drive stalled on a missed field goal.

Warth had two long completions after that negated by holding calls.

“I think they were playing back on our guys so we were able to take advantage of that. We were able to get a couple of scores late in the half, which was big,” Warth said. “The holding calls really hurt us, but we made up for it.”

The West team made noise again in the second quarter when Quantez Calloway rushed for gains of 24 and 11 yards, and Tayquan rushed for 13.

The drive stalled on fourth down when the West tried a trick play with Quantez throwing to Warth, but the pass was incomplete. Tayquan broke the scoreless draw with his long touchdown run. Teams were required to go for two, and the West failed.

On the next play for the East, Cooper’s Brady Bond intercepted Covington Catholic’s Preston Agee at the West 45 and returned the ball 35 yards to the East 20.

On third and short, Warth completed a pass to Beechwood’s Parker Mason at the 5-yard line. On the next play, Warth found Ryle’s Hunter Vaughan in the endzone for a touchdown. Vaughan made a nice finger-tip grab and was able to stay inbounds for the score with 9.6 seconds left in the half.

Quantez Calloway converted the two-point play to make it 14-0 at the half.

Neither team scored in the third quarter. Highlights included a 19-yard run by Newport quarterback Ethan Jefferson for the East team, and later a fourth-down conversion pass for the East by Agee to Bellevue’s Logan Allen for 11 yards.

Later in the quarter, Conner’s Clayton Melcher put together three straight runs of 10, 6, and 6 yards for the West in a drive that ended in a punt.

Early in the fourth quarter, the West got two interceptions from Boone County’s Skyler Sears and Conner’s Carter Lindemann.

With 6 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Warth threw a long pass to Beechwood’s Parker Mason, with Mason drawing a pass interference penalty to keep the drive going, up 14-0.

Scott’s Cam Patterson caught a 41-yard pass to the East 11 with 5:45 to go.

“My guy Cam, I’ll be throwing to him the next four years at Thomas More,” Warth said. “I enjoyed talking to him and getting to throw to my Cooper guys. I had plenty of weapons around me.”

Warth threw an 8-yard pass to Beechwood’s Tanner Jackson, five days removed from playing in the state baseball tournament. East stopped West on fourth-and-1 with three minutes to go.

East got its biggest offensive play with two minutes to go when Brossart’s Jacob Leicht connected with Dixie’s Devin Holbert for a 41-yard pass. Ryle’s Jackson Belk collected his team’s third interception of the quarter and fourth for the game to end it with a minute to play.

Engler credited Lloyd Memorial head coach Kyle Niederman, the defensive coordinator for this game, with a great game plan.

“It says a lot about our d-line,” Engler said. “One of the rules was you couldn’t blitz, so our line did a great job of putting them on the spot. We scored when we had to score and forced some turnovers.”

Dixie Heights offensive lineman Evan Wibberley, who is at Western Kentucky University preparing for the next stage of his career, was given the John Schlarman Award for top offensive lineman. The award is named in honor of the former local head coach and University of Kentucky offensive line coach who died from cancer.

Warth was given the Chris Vier Courage Award after requiring numerous surgeries to be able to throw again.

Simon Kenton’s Jeff Marksberry was honored in pregame after retiring from the head coaching position after more than 20 years with the Pioneers.

Scholarship recipients ($500): Parker Mason (Beechwood), Logan Allen (Bellevue), Daniel Williamson (Brossart), Dvion Davis (Boone County), Josh Rittinger (Campbell County), Clayton Melcher (Conner), Brady Bond (Cooper), Preston Agee (Covington Catholic), Carson Trimnell (Dayton), Devin Gomez-Smith (Dixie Heights), Jake Welch (Highlands), Damian Green (Holmes), Cade Lehmkuhl (Holy Cross), Jagur Eickhoff (Lloyd Memorial), Dustin Brewer (Ludlow), Andrew Rath (Newport), Luke Brockman (Newport Central Catholic), Jackson Belk (Ryle), Luke Iden (Scott), Joe Vormbrock (Simon Kenton).

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: West uses 4 picks to win 2022 Northern Kentucky all-star football game