It's a play that former Northwestern tight end Justin Betz will never forget.

During a five-yard out pattern, Betz's catch on the Tigers' first offensive series against Bangor left the senior in pain just yards short of his first career touchdown. His game, and football season, ended on the Tigers' Senior Night in the ninth week of the 2013 season.

The diagnosis: a torn ACL, which was repaired on November 22.

"I knew something serious happened," Betz said. "I felt something in my knee go. Cam Richardson came over and he was saying that I was grabbing his leg because I was in so much pain.

"The guy tackled me and pulled me backwards. I felt my knee go. I was laying on the ground in pain, and I was disappointed I didn't get into the end zone."

A little more than seven months after that injury, which left Betz's football career in complete jeopardy, the recent Northwestern High School graduate is one of two Tigers representing the Red Team in Thursday's McDonald's Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic at Nazareth High School's Andrew Leh Stadium.

For someone who didn't know if he would ever play football again, Betz is pleased to be a McDonald's All-Star.

"I didn't really expect to be able to play anymore," Betz said. "It gives me one more go-around for high school, and maybe play my last football game ever.

"I did not expect myself to be here at all."

Mac Storm, who endured his own tribulations during his career at Northwestern, will also represent the Tigers on the Red Team.

Betz spent three days a week at St. Luke's Physical Therapy recovering from his injury. He repeated that cycle for much of his recovery time, but also worked with Tiger trainer Jim Riedy in the final months.

Although being forced to the sidelines for the remainander of the Tigers' football season and entire basketball campaign, his relentless attitude geared Betz for the track and field season. Once competing, he thrived and finished ninth in the district in the javelin throw.

Roaming the sidelines rather than lining up at his usual tight end position may have been tough to start, but Betz quickly adapted and put the team's needs before anything else.

"It was tough at first," Betz said. "During the Bangor game, I wanted to be by myself because I was disappointed and upset about everything. After that, I felt like I needed to help out, or the team wouldn't be able to benefit from me on the sideline."

While Betz couldn't be on the field, his No. 20 jersey did see action as teammate Harry Hall wore it during the Tigers upset win over Catasauqua in Week 10.

Storm, who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome as a freshman and endured pain from that and reflex neurovascular dystrophy stretching into his sophomore year, has come full circle.

After missing much of his sophomore campaign, Storm returned in the third-to-last week of the 2011 season, a moment he had been waiting for months.

"It made me who I am today, I can say that much," Storm said. "I guess I really didn't have the work ethic I have now before I got that. And now I pretty much never stop working. I guess that kind of helped me get to where I am now."

Like Betz, Storm wasn't sure where his football career stood moving forward. But after being pushed mentally and physically, he got his chance to return to the field. On Thursday, he'll get one more high school game as a lineman.

"At first I wasn't thinking too much about it," Storm said of his football career. "But then when I started to, I was really concerned [and] kind of thought that might have been the end depending on everything.

"I was just thinking I would be lucky if I played again. I didn't think of being an all-star, All-State, [or] a college athlete. I didn't think any of that."

The game will kickoff at 7 p.m. on Thursday.