BATON ROUGE — A 61-yard punt return by Marcus Green proved to be the difference in the game as the East All-Stars won the 68th annual Louisiana High School Coaches Association/Coca-Cola All-Star Football game, 21-14 Friday night over the West at Southern University’s Mumford Stadium.
Green took the punt at his own 39 yard line and raced down the far sideline eluding several tacklers before cutting all the way back across the field to beat the final two defenders, diving into the end zone for the touchdown.
The score gave the East a 21-7 lead with 8:49 to play and the team’s second score in the first 3:11 of the final period.
Green, from Bastrop, finished with 51 yards rushing and 197 all-purpose yards to win the Nokia Sugar Bowl Most Outstanding Offensive Player Award. Brother Martin’s Keithshone Dantzler won the Nokia Sugar Bowl Defensive Outstanding Player Award with 14 tackles,
The East scored first on a 23-yard pass from Brian Babin to Lavell Wilson with 6:57 to go in the first quarter with the West tying the game at the 10:59 mark of the second quarter on a two-yard run by Derrick Fourroux. The game was tied at the half and remained tied through the third quarter.
The East took the lead for good on Babin’s 10-yard pass to Chad Davis to make it 14-7 with 11:01 to play before the East held the West setting up the Green punt return.
The West made it close with a five-yard run by Jonathan Botley with 3:43 to play, cutting it to 21-14. The West made a late interception but couldn’t advance the ball into the end zone from the 30 in the final two minutes.
The East win breaks a two-year losing streak with the win and now leads the series, 39-27-1.
East-West All-Star Game
Scoring Summary
West 0 7 0 7 — 14
East 7 0 0 14 — 21
1st — 6:57 — East — Lavelle Wilson, 23 pass from Brian Babin (Blake Bercegeay kick), E7, W 0
2nd — 10:59 — West — Derrick Fourroux, 2 run (Beau Lasseigne kick), W 7, E 7
4th — 11:01 East — Chad Davis, 10 pass from Brian Babin (Bercegeay kick), E 14, W, 7
4th — 8:49 East — Marcus Green, 61 punt return (Bercegeay kick), E 21, W 7
4th — 3:43 West — Jonathan Botley, 5 run (Lasseigne kick), E 21, W 14
Team Stats
West East
First Downs 12 8
Rushes-Yards (Net) 24-82 32-29
Passing Yards 140 93
Passes (A-C-I) 26-10-2 11-6-1
Total Offense Plays/Yards 50-222 43-122
Punt Returns/Yards 1-11 5-99
Kickoff Returns/Yards 4-87 3-47
Interception Returns/Yards 1-0 2-5
Punts (No.-Avg) 5-35.4 4-41.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0
Penalties/Yards 5-42 3-25
Possession Time 24;10 23:50
Third Down Conversions 4-11 5-12
Fourth Down Conversions 0-1 0-0
Sacks By 3-26 0-0
Individual Leaders
Rushing
West — Derrick Fourroux 16-62; Dwayne Jones 3-14; Jonathan Botley 5-6.
East — Marcus Green 10-51; LaJerrick Taylor 4-7; Chris Williams 2-6; Merrick Lanoux 2-3; DeQuincy Gordon 5 (-1); Marcus Washington 3 (-9); Team 4- (-12); Brian Babin 2 (-16).
Passing
West — Derrick Fourroux 10-26-2 140 yards; East — Brian Babin 5-9-0, 81 yards, 2 TDs; Marcus Washington 1-2-1, 12 yards.
Receiving
West — Immanuel Friddle 4-32; John Ambrose 2-70; Jonathan Botley 2-15; Beau Lasseigne 1-22; Dwayne Jones 1-1. East — Brian Jackson 2-31; Lavelle Wilson 1-23; Byron Matus 1-17; LaJerrick Taylor 1-12; Chad Davis 1-10.
Punting
West — Beau Lasseigne 5-177, 35.4; East — Blake Bercegeay 4-164, 41.0.
Punt Returns
West — Jonathan Botley 1-11. East — Marcus Green 5-99.
Kick Returns
West — Immanuel Friddle 1-18; Jonathan BOtley 2-48; Jermaine White 1-21.
East — Marcus Green 3-47.
Field Goal Attempts
East — Blake Bercegeay 0-1, 46 yards.
A — 3,176.