The McDonald’s Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic returns for a 53rd year this Thursday at Nazareth’s Andrew Leh Stadium.

The Gold squad, made up mostly of players from Northampton County and Phillipsburg, won last year’s contest over the Red squad 21-20 and they look favored again this week against their Lehigh County and Pocono counterparts.

Nazareth leads the Gold squad with eight players, but there are plenty of players from Bethlehem suiting up for the Gold team this week.

Those players include: Noah Pierre (Freedom, RB); Caden Vermuelen (Liberty, QB); Connor McLaughlin (Liberty, K); Robert Williams (Becahi, LB); Anthony Vega (Liberty, S); Mekhi LaPierre (Becahi, RB); Devin Greene-Williams (Becahi, CB); Brayden Curry (Freedom, LB); Jiovanni Richardson (Freedom, RB); Jacob Sutton (Becahi, RB) and JD Awuah (Becahi, S).

Pen Argyl coach Brady Mutton is leading this year’s Gold squad, while Pleasant Valley’s Blaec Saeger is coaching the Red squad.

Kickoff on Thursday night is set for 7:30 p.m.