Two former Salisbury football players had the opportunity to compete in Thursday's 2013 McDonald's Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic at Nazareth's Andrew Leh Stadium.

For one Falcon, it was his last football game ever. For the other, he'll continue his playing career next year at the collegiate level.

Offensive lineman Gavin Sonntag, an anchor on the Salisbury line last season, will attend Millersville University in the fall and be a part of the Marauders' football team in the upcoming season.

"This was kind of a sneak preview for the next level," said Sonntag, "because I'm going to be playing against some of the players that I actually played with."

Running back Michael Abraham took a few last handoffs out of the backfield for the Red team, which was composed of players from the Lehigh, Carbon, and Monroe counties, and finished with 11 yards on three carries.

"It's absolutely fun to play with the best of the best here," said Abraham. "It's definitely a different experience."

While the scoreboard showed a 13-8 victory for the Gold team, which was made up of players from Northampton County and Phillipsburg (NJ) and Palisades high schools, the game was more than just that. Players got to team up with players they hadn't played against in the high school season, and met a wide range of individuals along the way.

"It's not as weird as you think," said Abraham. "You get together and it's like an instant bond. You're both football players and it's really unique."

While Abraham and Sonntag are headed in different directions regarding their football careers, they were able to take the field together one last time for their high school career.

"It was just a pleasure playing with him [Abra[JUMP]ham] through all my years of high school," said Sonntag.

"It's fun to play with all the people you play against. It's fun to play with the best of the best."

Red took an early 2-0 lead in the first quarter after Parkland's Paul Tajiri and David Wong helped secure a safety. Gold responded with 13 consecutive points though, and led 13-2 at halftime. Phillipsburg's Alex Martin scampered 37 yards for the first score, and Wilson's Ryan Dailey found Nazareth's Anthony Gattaniella with 30 seconds remaining in the half.

Northern Lehigh's Dan Marsh scored on a quarterback sneak midway through the third to make it 13-8 after a failed two-point conversion, but a number of Red drives late failed to produce any more points.