Coach Reilly returns to Sheepshead for All Star Classic  

By Jim Dolan and August Porter

After missing last season’s game, former Sheepshead Bay H.S. football coach Richard Reilly returned to the Frank J. Macchiarola Educational Complex field for a special acknowledgement during the 32nd edition of the Reilly All Star Classic.  

Before the game a new sign was unveiled with the future name of the “Richard J. Reilly Field” pending the approval of the Mayor’s Office.

Reilly coached the powerhouse Sheepshead Bay Sharks from 1981 to 1994 and impressively rode an undefeated season to the 1985 PSAL championship. Near the end of his coaching career he recognized the need for a special senior all star game based on merit to acknowledge the dedication of players who had made major contributions to their respective teams. After pitching the game to the PSAL in 1991, the idea turned into the Reilly Classic, where deserving Brooklyn seniors would get to enjoy one last hurrah.

Before coming to Sheepshead Bay, Reilly was an assistant coach to Vincent Carbonaro, who was Reilly’s mentor at John Jay H.S. Even after Carbonaro’s death, his daughters Jane and Lauren and son Larry still carry on their father’s football legacy with the Carbonaro Foundation, which annually awards $10,000 to a deserving PSAL college-bound senior. Recently, Reilly’s son Kevin, who played for his father from 1986 to 1990, has been one of the stewards of the game along with Boys High coach Clive Harding, who won this season’s PSAL AAA Conference Championship.

The Brooklyn teams were divided into the Red North and Blue South. Along with Larry Carbonaro from Madison, the Classic also celebrated the South’s Alan Balkan, who was retiring from coaching after 23 years at New Utrecht H.S. The staffs of Midwood and Canarsie coached the North team.

Blue South took command from the start, scoring a safety on a punt that was snapped into the end zone. The quick safety set the tone as Blue overran Red for the rest of the game. Tyler Honan followed with a 30-yard pass to Jawad Fares as Aubrey Stewart came in at quarterback to run for a 40-yard score.

Later in the second quarter Honan was back in at quarterback to start a halfback pass from Mike Borchi to Dylan Honan for another score, which gave Blue a 23-0 halftime lead. Back in the game for the last quarter, Stewart scored again on a 30-yard scramble. On the last play of the game, Abdel Shehan scored on a “pick-six” interception for the 35-0 final Blue victory.

For the Blue team, FDR quarterback Aubrey Stewart was chosen as Game MVP, winning the Vincent Carbonaro Memorial Trophy for his leadership and two touchdowns; Alexandre Aarao-Reis Artu from Brooklyn Tech was selected as top defensive player, and Tyler Honan from New Utrecht was the team’s top offensive player.

For the Red team, Christian Dickerson from A-Tech was the top performing defensive player and Aron Ellis from Madison was the top offensive player.