Players line up to shake hands after the DODDS-Europe all-star game Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. South beat North 20-14. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Players line up to shake hands after the DODDS-Europe all-star game Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. South beat North 20-14. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
The North All-Stars line up for the national anthem before the 2014 DODDS-Europe all-star game Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Bit burg's Curtiss Wilson, playing for the North All-Stars, breaks a tackle Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in the DODDS-Europe all-star game. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Bridger Hawkins, playing for the South All Stars, passes into coverage Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in the DODDS-Europe all-star game. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Nile McIntosh bats down the ball away from Vicenza's Max Monnard in the DODDS-Europe all-star game Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Keyshawn Green, playing for the North All Stars, blazes down the middle of the field Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in the DODDS-Europe 2014 all-star game. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Ansbach's Brandon Piccinini boots in an extra point for the South All Stars in the DODDS-Europe all-star game Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Marquez Monley streaks down the sideline for a touchdown Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in the DODDS-Europe all-star game. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Ben Ciero, playing for the North All Stars, runs back a pick six in the DODDS-Europe all-star game Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Vicenza's Max Monnard, playing for the South All-Stars, looks for a hole in the DODDS-Europe all-star game Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Bit burg's Curtiss Wilson, playing for North All-Stars, breaks a tackle on a run Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in the DODDS-Europe all-star game. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
South All-Stars' Roger Brownell of Ansbach comes down with a pass Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in his team's 20-14 victory over the North All Stars in the 2014 DODDS-Europe football all-star game. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' David Vidovic, playing for the South All-Stars, is taken down at the end of a run Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in the South's 20-14 win in the 2014 DODDS-Europe all-star game. (Matt Millham/Stars and Stripes)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- A week after two hard-fought championship games took place on the same field, the DODDS-Europe football all-star game played Saturday at Kaiserslautern High School offered a worthy remix of that stirring final four.
The South all-stars took a 20-14 victory over the North in the annual postseason classic, the fourth consecutive year it's been held since its 2011 relaunch.
While ostensibly a North versus South affair, this year's edition was also drawn heavily along divisional lines. On the North, stars of Division I champion Ramstein teamed up with contemporaries from archrival Wiesbaden a week after ending the Warriors' title reign in 17-0 shutout fashion. Meanwhile, newly-crowned Division II champion Ansbach and runner-up Hohenfels joined forces for the South in the wake of the Cougars' 30-20 comeback victory in the European championship game.
But after spending the better part of the week as teammates, the lingering animosity between the rivals had mostly dissipated by Saturday's kickoff.
"We put our differences to the side, called a truce," Hohenfels' Trey Briscoe said. "Let's be professional and team up and get this over with."
With neither offense producing scoring drives in the early going, the game's first points came via defense. Ramstein senior Ben Ciero broke up a screen pass in the South backfield, bobbled and ultimately secured the interception and returned it for a touchdown that gave the North a 7-0 lead with just over three minutes to play in the first half.
The North edge didn't hold for long. Less than a minute later, Vilseck running back Marquez Monley bounced outside near midfield and raced down the sideline for the game's first offensive score.
A fumble recovery by his Falcon teammate, Gabe Lewis, set up another South possession, and the squad made good on it, too. The homestanding Kaiserslautern duo of quarterback Bridger Hawkins and wide receiver Antwan Haynes connected for a 10-yard touchdown pass to put the South ahead at the break.
The South built on its 13-7 halftime lead late in the third on a 4-yard run by Hohenfels senior David Vidovic. But like the South in the first half, the North was ready with the response. Wiesbaden speedster Anthony Little broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run, cutting the South lead to 20-14 entering the final 12 minutes.
That's the way it would end. After trading possessions, the North took over around its own 30 with just under two minutes to play and its collective eyes on a tying or go-ahead touchdown drive. A 40-yard run by Wiesbaden quarterback Tim Cuthbert put the North in range, but the last in a string of costly fumbles squandered the drive and iced the game for the South.
While DODDS-Europe's four finalists were well-represented, each 32-player squad enjoyed capable reinforcements from elsewhere in the organization. The South roster was loaded with talent from all four losing DODDS-Europe semifinalists: Kaiserslautern and Patch in Division I, and Naples and Vicenza in Division II. The North squeezed players from Division I Lakenheath and Division II playoff squads Bitburg, Rota and SHAPE onto a roster dominated by Ramstein Royals and Wiesbaden Warriors.
"It was a great experience," Wiesbaden junior running back Keyshaun Green said. "It was actually intense, the rivalry between the South and the North."
Twitter: @broomestripes
