Football Fever Returns To Greater Cincinnati

Hacks 9Sports East/West All-Star Football Game

Football fever returns to Greater Cincinnati on Thursday night, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Lockland Stadium as the 28^th annual Hacks 9Sports East/West All-Star Football Game presented by the US Coast Guard, put together by Hacks Sports and Southwest Ohio Football Coaches Association.

The annual All-Star Game will once again will feature many outstanding players on both sides of the ball.  The game also provides an opportunity for some players to compete one last time on center stage in front of thousands of fans.

The West squad will be coached by Al West of Hughes High School, who is making his first coaching appearance in the All-Star Game. 

“It’s an honor to be coaching the team after 12 years of coaching (at Hughes), it’s exciting to be representing the West side and working with the other coaches and all these outstanding young men,” said West.

The West team features many players signed to play in college in the fall.  A couple of standout signees, among others, include quarterback Anthony Johnson (Navy) of Winton Woods, who passed for 1,341 yards during the regular season. Defensive back Dejuan Tribble (Boston College) and wide receiver Darryl Snow (Cincinnati) of North College Hill formed a potent 1-2 duo for the Trojans and will do the same for the West.  Tribble earned first team All-State honors in Division IV on defense at cornerback while Snow was named second team All-Southwest on offense playing wide receiver.  Up front, Jake Lay (Dayton or Davidson) of Colerain and Luke Jellison (Kenyon College) of Wyoming form a strong pair at tackle.  Lay was named Division I first team on offense while Jellison was named first team defense in Division III. 

Vince Suriano of Anderson High School will coach the East team.  The veteran coach is making his third All-Star Game appearance, second as head coach. 

“This should be a lot of fun for the kids.  I told them at the first practice that ‘this game was for you’ and we are going to let them showcase their talents,” said Suriano.

The East has plenty of offensive power starting with quarterback Brad Maurer (Lafayette College) of Kings.  Maurer was voted Ohio’s Player of the Year in Division II after passing for over 1,600 yards and rushing for 600-plus more during the regular season in leading the Knights to the state semifinals.  Maurer was also the winner of the prestigious “That’s My Boy Award” for Cincinnati players.  Defensive back Eric Thatcher (Pittsburgh) of Moeller, linebacker Shaun Fitzgibbons (Toledo) of Sycamore and defensive end Chris Norwell (Illinois) of Anderson are a few of the standouts for the East defensive squad.  Thatcher and Fitzgibbons earned first team All-Southwest honors while Norwell was a second team selection.

Last season, the West defeated the East 21-17 before a near-capacity crowd at Lockland Stadium to take a 14-13 lead all-time in the series.

Hacks Sports (www.hacksportsmarketing.com) is considered to be one of the leading sports marketing companies in the region and operates under four distinct business units, including Publishing, Events, Promotions and Apparel.  Products and promotions include Hacks 9Sports Magazine and Website, high school sporting events, media partnerships, clothing apparel and more.

Hacks Sports is owned and operated by Reach Publishing Systems, Inc., publishers of Reach Magazine, a direct mail product produced in 15 cities across the United States. Other Reach consumer brand publications include Housetrends, Hometown Golf Magazine, InTouch Magazine and Cincinnati Bell New Neighbor Book.

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For more information on the Hacks 9Sports East/West All-Star Football Game (team coaches, rosters, and more) log onto http://www.hacksportsmarketing.com/EventsDivision.Football.AllStarGame.htm

To download the official Hacks 9Sports East/West All-Star Football Game logo log onto: http://www.hacksportsmarketing.com/EventsDivision.Football.AllStarGame.logo.htm

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