The Grand Strand was the site Dec. 10 for the final high school football game for a selected group of Chronicle Country players.

A total of five seniors and Chapin head coach Justin Gentry participated in the 75^th edition of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives North/South All-Star Bowl.

Gray Collegiate Academy offensive lineman Elijah Radden was the lone player on the winning North team. It defeated the South 22-15 to snap a three-game losing streak in the series.

Brookland-Cayce quarterback Tanner Staton earned Offensive Most Valuable Player honors for the South team led by Gentry. He threw for over 100 yards and accounted for both touchdowns for the South.

He also had two interceptions which were among his team’s four turnovers and was tackled hard out of bounds late in the contest on his previously injured shoulder. Overall, Staton was happy with the weeklong experience.

“This was so much fun,” said Staton, who was also named to the South Carolina Football Coaches Association’s All-State team for Class 3A. “I learned a lot. I learned a lot about being a man. Going to Target and helping these little kids at Myrtle Beach Elementary School, you learn from it and I’m thankful to be in my place and thankful to get the opportunity like I did from my parents, my coaches and all my peers.”

With 48 seconds left in a first quarter which saw both teams combine for three turnovers, Staton put the South up 7-0 with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Lower Richland wide receiver Nate Branch.

The first of two field goals by Abbeville’s Addison Nickles put the North on the board in the second quarter. After the South was forced to punt, Westside defensive lineman Hunter Puckett blocked Lucy Beckham’s Jack Well’s kick and sent the football into the end zone for a second.

This left the score 7-5 at halftime. During the intermission, South running back Jonah Norris of Lexington stayed on the field for the Mr. South Carolina Football Award ceremony.

He and Dutch Fork running back Jarvis Green, who will play in next week’s Shrine Bowl in Spartanburg, were among the seven finalist. Coming away with the top honor was University of South Carolina commit and Camden defensive lineman Xzavier McLeod.

The game resumed with the lone score of the third quarter coming on a go-ahead 48-yard field goal by Nickles. The fourth quarter saw both teams combine for as many points (21) than the combined total scored in the previous three quarters.

It started with a scoring drive by the North capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Emerald’s Jaylen Foster to make it 15-7 with 10:10 remaining.

Staton looked to rally the South. Facing a third and long, he scrambled out of trouble and lofted a 38-yard pass to Bluffton’s Jaylin Linder in the endzone. Because of Touchstone Energy Cooperative rules which only allows two-point conversion attempts with less than two minutes left in a game, the South settled for a PAT to get within 15-14 with 7:31 left.

The South had two more drives to take the lead. It was forced to punt on the first and the second ended on Spring Valley linebacker Evan Javis’ second interception of the game. The turnover set up the North’s final score with 1:03 left on a two-yard touchdown run by Mr. South Carolina Football finalist Bryson James of Clinton.

The South got the ball back with 57 seconds and at its 10-yard line. The game ended with Fort Dorchester quarterback Zolton Osborne getting sacked by both defensive linemen Anthony Thurman of Blythewood and Abraham Fyffe of Chapman.

Both Chapin’s Max Drag and Dutch Fork’s Chandler Perry finished with four tackles for the South, whose roster also includedGilbert offensive lineman Blake Cooke.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about wins and losses at an All-Star game,” Staton said. “It’s about the competition.”