NAZARETH - How much of a difference can a 15-minute break make?

The answer was evident during the second half of the 2016 McDonald's All-Star Classic at Nazareth's Andrew Leh Stadium between the Red and Gold teams.The Red team, which featured 15 Times News all-stars, trailed by a 49-14 tally at intermission.Everything changed abruptly after halftime.A late offensive explosion, combined with some unorthodox rules, assisted a furious Red squad rally, allowing them to put 48 points on the board during the last two quarters.After four lead changes in the final period, the Gold team ironically clinched the game on a defensive play.The Red team had one remaining possession with 25 seconds left, trailing by just three points. During the midst of the final sequence, Red quarterback Blake Levengood (So. Lehigh) was stripped by Cordel Cotto (Freedom) of the Gold team, which sealed the 65-62 victory for the Gold.Initially, Liberty's Doug Erney wasted no time setting the tempo for the Gold team when the game started. He connected with Bechai's Nate Stewart on an 80-yard score during the first play.It was a foreshadowing of things to come.The Red team had no answer for Erney, who accounted for five scores and 297 yards in just the first half.However, the Red team had a tiny bit of momentum in the latter stages of the second period, as Levengood produced two touchdowns - one on a 64-yard bomb to Parkland's Nolan Ridgeway."Going down by 42, the coaches pleaded to keep our heart in it and keep chugging," said Lehighton's Teagan Durishin who played safety for the Red squad. "I think we're close as teammates, even after just two weeks of practice. That kind of bond helped us rally around each other and play better."The All-Star Classic rules were set to keep it competitive. Due to the lopsided margin, the Gold team was forced to kick back to its opponent after every Red score until it pulled within 10 points.The Red squad immediately took advantage of a plethora of extra possessions behind Salisbury's Tevon Weber. In fact, Red ripped off huge touchdowns on the first play of its drive on four separate occasions. Weber launched five-straight touchdowns during a scoring stretch that included three monster TD throws of 66, 62, and 50 yards. His 50-yard connection to Ridgeway with 11:18 left in the final frame finally tied the game at 49-49."We felt like we had them on a lot of the plays we had in the first half, but protection broke down or a drop here or overthrow there - we just couldn't connect," said Red head coach Josh Snyder of Northwestern. "We told them to stick with it and be patient."It was a rough first half, no doubt about it. The good news was, every time that we scored, we got the ball back. Our defense had a turnover and a couple stops, which got us back in the game."Due to the rules, the Gold team's offense was on the bench for most of the second half. When Levengood launched an 81-yard bomb to his favorite regular season target, Ethan Price, the Red had its first lead at 56-49."It was amazing," said Northern Lehigh's CJ Young of his Red squad's crazy surge. "I wasn't expecting a comeback like that, but it was nice and it was a fun game. I'm going to miss all of the coaches and players that I've made bonds with over the years. It's been amazing and a great year, I had a ton of fun playing the game that I've loved my whole life."Unfortunately for the Red team, Erney was back into the game during crunch time and led Gold on two scoring drives within the final three minutes. He finished with 442 yards and seven total touchdowns. His final strike was to Easton's Nysir Minney-Gratz with 1:07 remaining, which made the final score 65-62.Despite the Red team trailing for most of the game, Pleasant Valley's Austyn Borre (7-48) and Northwestern's Harry Hall (3-22) received some groundwork.On the other side of the ball, Danny Hunter of Pleasant Valley jumped a route and had a huge interception in the fourth quarter. Durishin and Palmerton's Rai Washington each had a sack.WHO ARE THEY? ... The Red team was represented by coaches and players from Lehigh, Carbon, and Monroe counties. The Gold squad consisted of Northampton County, Phillipsburg, and Palisades.ONE MORE TIME … Head coach Josh Snyder didn't expect to coach in this game, but he was thrilled to have the opportunity. He also coached his four Northwestern Tigers; Andrew Sorensen, Brandon Miller, Dylan Snyder, and Hall one final time."When they called and asked me to be the coach, I jumped all over it," explained Snyder. "I quickly called some guys that I was familiar with that are excellent coaches. It's bittersweet. I thought I was done coaching them, and low and behold, I got to coach them one more time."WELL REPRESENTED… The rest of the all-stars from the area included Erik Skrincosky (Lehighton), Tyler Cann (Lehighton), Cameron Kates (No. Lehigh), Jericho Burger (Palmerotn), Owen Miller (Palmerton), and Dean Krcic (Pleasant Vy.).McDonald's Gold 21 28 0 16 - 65McDonald's Red 0 14 21 27 - 62G - Stewart 80 pass form Erney (Koose kick)G - Culver 77 pass from Erney (Koose kick)G - Harka 36 pass from Erney (Koose kick)G - Erney 3 run (Koose kick)G - Stewart 98 pass from Thatcher (Koose kick)G - Culver 6 run (Koose kick)R - Levengood 11 run (Krcic kick)R - Ridgewood 64 pass from Levengood (Krcic kick)G - Erney 19 run (Koose kick)R - Ridgeway pass from Weber (Krcic kick)R - Hodge 9 pass from Weber (Krcic kick)R - Price 66 pass from Weber (Krcic kick)R - Kovalchick 62 pass from Weer (Krcic kick)R - Ridgeway 50 pass from Weber (Krcic kick)R - Price 81 pass from Levengood (Krcic kick)G - Stewart 20 pass from Erney (Haynes pass from Erney)R - Levengood 79 run (pass fail)G - Minney-Gratz 12 pass from Erney (pass good)