Will Aviles waited to receive a text confirming his spot on the Gold roster for the 52nd Annual Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic June 15 at Nazareth’s Andrew S. Leh Stadium.

It never came.

Teammates Izzy Ramos-Dobbins, Troy Miller, and Rahmel Terry all received texts. The recently graduated Bethlehem Catholic senior was frustrated, but he was happy for his teammates.

“I was a little disappointed,” recalled Aviles. “I waited two weeks to get a text. I thought I didn’t work hard enough. But I was excited for everyone else to be part of the game.”

Finally, a call came from Gold and Bangor head coach Paul Reduzzi, and Aviles was in.

The recently graduated senior made the most of his efforts, as he caught touchdown passes of 13 and 20 yards and had a team-high 72 yards receiving in the Gold’s 21-20 victory.

Ironically, Aviles was converted to a wide receiver for the game, playing either a defensive back or safety for the Golden Hawks this past season. He confirmed it was his first time on the other side of the ball on a consistent basis since his freshman year. Aviles didn’t catch a pass this season.

Aviles saw a smooth transition.

“It was just hard to get some chemistry,” he said. “When you’re an athlete, you should be able to play anywhere. It really wasn’t a big challenge to make the move, and I would have gone anywhere.”

Aviles’ older sister, Alyssa, was a cheerleader at the game a few years, and he remembered wanting to always play in the game in his youth.

He stated that it was an awesome experience that became emboldened when he told former coach Kyle Haas that he was going to score two touchdowns in the game.

“He was there for me after the game,” said Aviles about Haas. “Coach Haas was more than a coach for us; he was a father figure. He was our go-to person for everything. It was tough when he left, and it came out of nowhere.”

Aviles has cherished Haas’ contributions and guidance as well as assistant coach Bob Rigali, who worked with him since his freshman year. He started playing football at the age of five, and will always remember his 80-pound playing days when he made a game-saving tackle to win a championship.

Next fall, Aviles will continue his football career at Springfield College, where he will pursue a degree in exercise science. He will begin in the program as a defensive back.

“I always wanted to work in exercise science,” he said.” I want to stay in sports as long as I can. I really feel comfortable in it.”

Once the All-Star game began, Aviles played pretty comfortably in the game, too.