By James A. McCray III
Prince George’s County, Content Manager
For nine years, the Prince George’s County football players had the distinct honor of being named an all-star, had the distinct honor of playing in an all-star game, and had the distinct honor of being highlighted on a stage separate from the regular season.
However, for the 10-year anniversary, the Prince George’s brass wanted to do something different, something special, something not done in the previous nine years.
In an inaugural event, dubbed the Chick-fil-A Challenge, 22 Prince George’s County all-stars will play against a 22-player all-star team from the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference in a football contest aimed at showcasing talents from the respective conferences.
“I think it is a real good thing,” Ed Shields co-organizer of the game said. “Normally in P.G. you play against yourself, and that’s nice, you have some fun there. But here, you get to go against another group of counties [Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary’s]; different schools from different areas.
The game is scheduled for Dec. 13 at Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School at 12:30 p.m. and will allow athletes from both sides an opportunity to play in an all-star game that has been in the works since approximately April.
“We have an opportunity to kind to showcase our kids and their talents,” said Dominic Zaccarelli, also a co-organizer of the event. ” … We can help promote our student-athletes for college, and that works both ways, too. P.G. County now doesn’t have to play each other; they have an opportunity to showcase their talent against other talent in the state as well.”
The Prince George’s County all-stars will be led by Frederick Douglass head coach J.C. Pinkney as the SMAC team will be led by Patuxent head coach Steve Crounse.
“It’s a real honor to be selected to coach this team,” Crounse said. “You get all of the best senior athletes from SMAC, guys that you try to stop all year, and now I get a chance to utilize all of their talent.
“So, I am really excited, and [also] excited to be coaching with Doug Lamb [head coach] of Lackey.”
“It’s great,” Pinkney said of being able to coach the P.G. team. “It is a far cry from what we typically work with. There is a lot of tremendous talent in there.
” … It is an honor to be selected amongst my peers to represent the county, and we expect to do that.”
The game is currently under a two-year contract, and is set to be played at North Point High School (SMAC) next season with hopes that the game will become an annual event.
“Hopefully it will become a big thing,” Shields said, “and it would be great for the kids.”
tmccray@digitalsports.com
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