DEPEW — Williamsville South product and 2010 Connolly Cup winner Joe Licata had one last shot to shine under the lights to the wrap up his high school career, but a South squad defense — led by Defensive MVP Travis Pitzonka (Lancaster) — had other plans, allowing just one TD pass from the future University at Buffalo-bound quarterback en route to a 28-20 win in the 36th annual Kensington Lions Club/AD-PRO Sports All-Star High School Football Classic Wednesday at Depew High School.

Coincidentally it was South wide out Christian Smith who led the way in the passing department, hooking up with Depew receiver Anthony Emmanuel on 35 and 13-yard scores through the air on option passes. Emmanuel took home South Offensive MVP for his two touchdowns.

Licata and the North stormed down the field on the opening drive only for it to stall out on the 17, where kicker Nick Fisher (Kenmore West) came up short on a field goal try. The North would get three more tries inside South territory after the South went fumble, fumble, punt on its first three possessions, but the defense held its ground.

“I put the blame on my shoulders,” North and Wilson head coach Bill Atlas said. “To be (near) the end zone that many times, I have to be able to punch it in.”

North Tonawanda’s Dan and Joe Montesanti starred for the North defense, with Dan garnering North Defensive MVP honors for his efforts.

“It’s nice playing against some bigger competition, but I was just happy to get out here and play one last high school football game,” said Dan Montesanti, who along with his brother Joe, will attend SUNY Cortland this fall. “A whole bunch of guys that I played against turned out to be some of my greatest teammates.”

While both defenses played strong, it was South’s play early on that dictated the result of the game.

“I don’t know what happened. You have to give credit to the South team, they had a lot of good stuff defensively,” Licata said of the first quarter drives that fell short. “They have a lot of great athletes, great players on that side of the ball and you can’t take anything away from them.”

The South squad opened the scoring early in the second quarter when Emmanuel fooled the defense on a 35-yard score. Maryvale’s Bilal Clay then punched in a 1-yard run as time expired in the first half to give the White Shirts a 14-0 lead.

On the second play from scrimmage in the third, Pitzonka picked off Licata to give the South excellent field position. They converted on the next play, when Smith and Emmanuel linked up for the second time to give the South a 20-0 lead.

The North fought its way back, in large part due to the all-star game’s nine-point rule, which allows the team down by more than nine points to receive the ball even after it scores.

Williamsville North Kevin Hall was the first North squad QB to find the end zone when he dropped in a pretty pass to Burgard’s Shamari Cheney, the North’s Offensive MVP. St. Joe’s running back Nick Hall set up the North score with a 74-yard kickoff return.

Ken West’s Fisher then tacked on a pair of field goals (26 and 28 yards) to close the gap to seven. But the South would come right back and score on a 10-yard run to put the game away.

Licata’s lone touchdown pass came with 14.8 seconds to go, as he gave Cheney his second score of the game on a 32-yard reception.

“It’s been wild to think that four years of high school has gone by this fast,” Licata said. “It’s crazy to think that I’ll never be playing a high school football game again. It’s off to the collegiate level.”

Contact sports editor Brandon Koch at 693-1000, ext. 117.