ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Cam Williamson, the South team’s MVP, celebrates his touchdown run.
By STEVE KRAUSE
LYNN — If you look at a statistics sheet for the 56th Agganis All-Star Football game, and you’re looking for touchdowns, rushes, or receptions you won’t see Hugh Calice’s name there.
However, if you’re looking to find out who did all the real hard work in the North’s 10-6 win over the South Thursday night at Manning Field, that’s where you’ll find Calice, who capped off a wonderful senior season by making 10 tackles and winning his team’s Most Valuable Player award.
“It may have even been more than 10,” said Andrew Morency, Calice’s coach last fall at Beverly High. “He’s a tremendous kid and a tremendous player. I’m so happy to see that he got the award.”
Calice was all over the field all night long. When he wasn’t making tackles, he was shedding blockers and steering players into tackles.
“I didn’t expect this,” Calice said. “I’m glad to have had a strong showing in the game, but I really didn’t think too much about what kind of an impact I had in the game.”
Calice said that if any defensive stand typified his night, it was the next-to-the-last one by the South midway through the fourth quarter. The South had taken over after an interception by Everett’s Gerrell Boyce, and had a first down at the North 48. The South ran four straight plays and got it down to the 30, and looked poised to score and retake the lead.
However, that’s where Calice took over. On a third-and-three, he tackled St. Mary’s Abraham Toe for a loss, and then came back on the next play to nail Scott Peary behind the line to stem the tide and get his team the ball back.
Cam Williamson of Saugus was the South’s MVP. He scored his team’s only touchdown on a 4-yard run that, at the time, gave his team a 6-3 lead. The way points were so hard to come by in this game, Williamson could have gone a long way toward wrapping up the game for his team moments later when a possible interception just bounced off his outstretched fingertips.
“Yeah,” he said, “but games aren’t won or lost on one play. I had fun. It was a great game to play in.”
Both Williamson and his teammate Marvens Moise saw lots of action Thursday and that made Williamson feel good.
“We (Saugus) struggled this year,” he said. “It honestly feels good to have played well in this game. It shows the individual aspect of the game and what happens when you work hard.”
Despite his team’s 1-9 record last fall, Williamson had a satisfying season. He was the team’s representative on the Item All-Star Football team, and was a first-team Northeastern Conference all-star.
“It feels good,” he said, “to get some credit for having played well.”