[7/17/04]MADISON The North all-stars watched one storm pass over Madison Central before the 55th Bernard Blackwell All-Star Football Classic on Friday, but they weren’t able to weather one of their own making during the game.

Petal’s Gabriel Fairman scored on a 3-yard run with 10:17 to play in the game, giving the South a 14-13 win over the North. Fairman’s TD run capped a chaotic stretch in which the South turned the ball over twice deep inside North territory, only to get it back after a series of North miscues.

“It just seemed like we weren’t as hyped as we should have been,” said Warren Central’s Jason Williams, who started at free safety for the North. “But it was a fun game. I enjoyed playing with everybody. I enjoyed the experience. I just wish we could have gotten another point or two.”

Despite the loss, Williams represented Warren Central well. He had six tackles three in each half and played every snap on defense for the North.

At first, it looked as if the North would literally run away with the game.

Running back Lavarus Giles, from Ray Brooks, went off the right side and outran the South defense down the sideline for a 70-yard touchdown on the opening play of the game, giving the North a 7-0 lead.

After the South went three-and-out on its first possession, Clinton’s Paul Cavett broke a 34-yard run on the North’s next play from scrimmage. The run moved the ball to the South 15-yard line, and set up a 28-yard field goal by Pontotoc’s Robert Bass three plays later to make it 10-0.

The South answered on its next possession, driving 71 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown. The drive was kept alive by three third-down conversions, and capped by a 2-yard touchdown run from Jim Hill’s Tony Minor to cut the deficit to 10-7.

“We never got down on ourselves. We never hung our heads,” said South quarterback Brett Hyatt of West Jones, who completed 7 of 13 passes for 72 yards and was named the game’s offensive MVP. “These guys just don’t quit.”

The teams settled into a defensive stalemate for the rest of the half, then turned the game into a fumblefest in the third quarter.

The South’s opening drive of the second half stalled at its own 28-yard line, and it punted. On the North’s first play, quarterback Ty Weems fumbled and the South recovered at the North 42.

Three plays later, Hyatt returned the favor by fumbling the ball away at the 34-yard line. The North then lined up to punt after going three-and-out, but the snap was bad and Bass was tackled for an 11-yard loss. A holding penalty on the play gave the South the ball at the North 13, but quarterback Pat Barnes, a Georgia signee, fumbled a snap at the 1-yard line and turned the ball over again.

Finally, after the North was unable to move the ball and Barnes shanked a 23-yard punt, the South broke through. A pass from Hyatt to Darrell Williams on third-and-4 gave the South a first-and-goal at the North 3 early in the fourth quarter, and Fairman punched it in on the next play for the go-ahead TD.

The North got the ball back twice in the final 10 minutes, but was unable to cross midfield.