In an all-star football game that featured 127 points, a quarterback with seven touchdowns alone and an unbelievable 42-0 lead for one squad, it’s a bit ironic that a defensive play would be the game-defining moment.

But that was the case in Thursday’s McDonald’s All-Star Football Classic at Andrew Leh Stadium of Nazareth High School.

After the Gold Team (comprised of players from Phillipsburg, Palisades and Northampton County) erupted for a 42-0 lead in the second quarter, the Red Team stormed back to take the lead in the fourth quarter. That was due in large part to an all-star game rule that allowed Red to receive the ball after each touchdown in the second half.

Red (consisting of players from Lehigh, Carbon and Monroe counties) then fell behind late, but was 51 yards away from a go-ahead touchdown with under a minute to play. Gold’s Daloni Caldwell of Easton, however, recovered a stripped fumble of Red quarterback Blake Levengood to seal a 65-62 victory for Gold.

“It was a fun experience,” said Salisbury quarterback Tevon Weber after finishing with 234 passing yards and four touchdowns. “We knew we were going to put up some points because after we score we would get the ball back. We just tried to keep on chipping away at the score. We can back and it was a good game for everyone to watch.”

Falcon safety Devin Irwin was also selected to the Red Team and was a part of that defensive unit trying to slow down Gold’s offense.

“It felt great,” Irwin said. “The team finally came together in the second half. We started playing as a team and things started going our way.

“It was a good time and everyone was cool. It’s nice to see different competition.”

Gold’s explosive start was in large part to Liberty quarterback Doug Erney shredding Red’s defense at every possible opportunity.

Three passing scores and another rushing touchdown for Erney, who finished with over 400 passing yards and seven total touchdowns, made it a 28-0 advantage in the blink of an eye.

That lead grew to 42-0 with under four minutes to play in the half after Saucon Valley quarterback Zach Thatcher connected with Becahi’s Nate Stewart for a 98-yard bomb, followed by a strong plunge from two-yards out by Saucon Valley running back Evan Culver.

Levengood got Red on the scoreboard finally on their next possession, and then he hooked up with Parkland’s Nolan Ridgway for 64 yards on the very next play to make it a 42-14 ball game.

Erney came through with his fifth score of the half minutes later on a 19-yard dash up the middle of the field, seemingly ending Red’s attempt at any comeback. But that’s when the tides started to turn.

“I wanted to cut the lead as much as possible so Blake could go out there and do his thing,” Weber said.

Weber was responsible for four consecutive Red Team touchdowns that stretched into the first play of the fourth quarter, cutting Gold’s lead to 49-42.

The last two fit the mold of highlight plays that Erney was putting up in the first half-first a 66-yard strike to Spartan wideout Ethan Price (238 receiving yards), followed by a bomb from 62 yards out to Nick Kovalchick of Whitehall.

Levengood (over 380 total yards) then added two touchdowns, the first a 50-yarder to Ridgway (180 receiving yards), and then an 81-yarder to his high school teammate Price, to put Red ahead for the first time with 8:32 remaining on the clock.

Erney and the Gold team responded with three minutes to play with Stewart’s (269 receiving yards) third touchdown reception.

A two-point conversion put Gold ahead with 2:59 to play. The two teams would trade off scores over the next 1:52, but Red would have it’s opportunity down by three with more than a minute to play.

But that’s when the game’s biggest play, the forced fumble and recovery, left Red just short of a game-winning drive and sent Gold to the victory.

“When you keep on scoring and getting the ball back, obviously you have a lot of momentum,” Weber said.

Playing the actual game and representing their schools was only one part of the story for the dozens of high school seniors selected to participate in this year’s 46th annual McDonald’s Classic.

They formed a bond with players across the entire Lehigh Valley that they’ll remember for quite some time.

“It was a lot of new people, a lot of new faces, and a lot of new personalities,” said Weber, a future quarterback at East Stroudsburg University. “It was a lot fun getting to know a lot of people. I’ll remember this game for the rest of my life.”