QB-receiver combo keys Sunrise All-Star win
Five days typically is not long enough for a quarterback and wide receiver to develop chemistry.
But it was plenty of time for Aeneas McAllister and Devion Clayton.
The duo connected for two touchdowns, and the Sunrise Region nabbed a 35-14 victory over the Sunset Region on Saturday in the 45th edition of the West Charleston Lions Club Charity All-Star Football Game at Bishop Gorman.
The Sunrise Region, which scored 21 first-quarter points and forced three turnovers, has won five straight in the annual game pitting the area's top seniors.
"We just worked really hard at practice all week and came together. The coaches helped a lot," said Clayton, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player. "We all play versus each other, so it was like just having fun, helping each other out. ... We treated it like any other game and came after it."
Clayton, from Silverado, finished with 61 yards receiving and scored on both of his catches, including a sensational touchdown late in the first quarter.
McAllister, who quarterbacked Basic to the Division I Sunrise Region title game, went 11-for-19 for 144 yards. He completed passes to seven receivers and led the Sunrise to touchdowns on two of its first three possessions.
"It's always good to start off with a good head of momentum," McAllister said. "Offense changes the way the game is going to played out here. It changes the tone of it."
With the Sunrise already leading 14-0 late in the first quarter, McAllister was flushed to his right on third-and-10 and heaved a pass toward Clayton. The 6-foot-3-inch receiver with scholarship offers from Southern Utah, Weber State and Division II Adams State (Colo.) reached over two Sunset defenders for a 47-yard catch as the Sunrise took a 21-0 lead.
"To be honest, before the play, I was like, 'Just throw me up the ball. I got you. Trust me,'" Clayton said. "He came up, stepped up, and I was like 'Throw it.' The two safeties split opposite ways and then came back, and I just went up and grabbed it, snatched it."
Clayton added a 14-yard TD reception late in the second quarter on a perfectly thrown ball by McAllister to the corner of the end zone as the Sunrise led 28-7 at halftime.
"He's a great receiver. He's acrobatic, he has great hands and he has speed," McAllister said. "He has everything you want in a receiver, so if I could just put it out there for him, hopefully he could make a play."
Legacy's Naim Geeslin paced the Sunset with 61 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries as he was named the game's Offensive MVP.
Geeslin scored on a 1-yard run on fourth-and goal with 2:25 left in the third quarter to cut the Sunrise lead to 28-14. The touchdown was set up by a 37-yard reception by Bishop Gorman's Brandon Gahagan, who was ruled to have simultaneous possession after it appeared Coronado's DaQu'an Davis made the interception.
Zach Loveland of Las Vegas intercepted Legacy's Tanoa Alapati with 6:28 remaining to end the Sunset's comeback hopes.
Jeremiah Pritchard of Silverado was named the Defensive MVP and added a 7-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. John Funaki of Basic recovered a fumble in the end zone after a sack to help put the Sunrise ahead 14-0.
Desert Oasis' Branden Peterson had two catches for 36 yards, along with a dazzling 32-yard touchdown for the Sunset in the second quarter. Alapati's long heave was deflected by Loveland at the goal line, but Peterson made a diving grab in the end zone to cut the Sunrise lead to 21-7.
— Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him: @DavidSchoenLVRJ
