All Star Seniors shine at Reilly Classic

On Saturday, Dec. 7, the 33rd edition of the Reilly Classic All Star Football Game for PSAL Brooklyn high school seniors was held at Old Boys High Field. The game, founded by former Sheepshead Bay coach Richard Reilly (1981-1994), has given outgoing seniors a final chance to showcase their skills since 1991.

Over the past few years, Reilly’s son Kevin, who played tight end for his father at Sheepshead, along with Boys High coach Clive Harding have preserved the game over its three-decade run. Additionally, the Carbonaro family has helped to continue the run with their support by providing the game’s MVP Award, which has been named for the late Vincent Carbonaro, Coach Reilly’s mentor from John Jay H.S.

In fact, this year Kevin Reilly and his 1985 PSAL Championship quarterback teammate Anthony Walker are sponsors of the game with their “46 Blast” next level athletic clothing line, which honors Coach Reilly. The new “46 Blast” brand is a homage to Richard Reilly, who always started off each game with the team’s trademark power run play to the right. 

This year the teams were divided into two squads, with Fort Hamilton coach Dan Perez heading the West Team and coach Rucard Benjamin from South Shore heading the East Team.

The game opened with South Shore’s QB Jakhi Plaisime throwing a 25-yard screen pass to give the East Team an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Plaisime then brought his team down to the 3-yard line to find a stubborn West Team defense that forced a turnover on four downs to end the first half. After being held scoreless, an energized West took the field for the second half. Lincoln QB Kory Reese scored on a 5-yard keeper and Tech’s Matan Abir kicked a 15-yard field goal to take a 9-6 third quarter lead.

The West added to their lead on a TD reception by Lincoln’s Paul Gicah to put his team up 16-6 early in the fourth quarter. The East countered with a TD pass to Sheepshead Bay’s Eli White to narrow the score to 16-12.  Needing some more points to ensure a win, the West drove downfield, where Reese hit Fort Hamilton’s August Porter for a first down and the 3A Division’s top receiver pulled down a sensational one-handed catch for a 30-yard reception. After gaining the first down, another Lincoln player, Ciyan Philbert, scored on a 9-yard handoff to cap off the West’s 22-12 win.

As is tradition, game performance trophies were awarded after the game by coach Richard Reilly. For the East, South Shore’s linebacker Jaheim Dockery was chosen as his team’s defensive player of the game, while his South Shore teammate, running back Tyjeh Schulters, was chosen as the team’s offensive player. For the winning West Team, New Utrecht linebacker Ali Yahya was chosen on defense, while Lincoln QB Kory Reese was chosen on offense. The game’s MVP was Lincoln’s Paul Gicah, who went above and beyond to earn this year’s Vincent Carbonaro Memorial Trophy. On offense, the two-way player scored a touchdown and had a 35-yard kickoff return. On defense, he forced two turnovers, broke up two passes and had three tackles. 

A pleased Coach reilly expressed his satisfaction with this year’s game, saying it was one of the best that he has hosted in recent years. He closed the game saying, “You men played the game the right way today just how I intended. As your last high school game, it will be a game that you’ll always remember.”