By Mukala Kabongo
NEFJ Staff

LYNN — Swampscott’s Henry Buettler earned MVP on Wednesday night as the South squad defeated the North 21-6 at the 63rd annual Harry Agganis All Star football game.

For many players on the field, the game at Manning field was their final time putting on a football uniform. Buettler – who is set to attend Boston University in the fall – was one of those players.

“Last game I’m ever going to be playing,” he said. “I’m not going to college for football, so I had to make it count.”

Buettler ran for a game-high 69 yards and added a touchdown to close out his career.

“I pretty much played my heart out,” Buettler added.

The tone was set early on by the South when the defense forced a three-and-out. An 18-play drive followed that stretched into the second quarter and ended with a 13-yard run by Jayden Torres for the game’s first score.

It didn’t take long for the North to respond on its second series, marching down the field with Peabody wide receiver turned quarterback Tyler Rappold finding Beverly’s Liam Timmons wide open for a 27-yard touchdown.

Once again, the South had a response, this time it was thanks to the arms and legs of Lynn English quarterback Jaiden Rosario.

“I’m just confident,” said Rosario. “I took my first snap and saw that my offensive line was just beating on them.”

Rosario is heading to Framingham State University and showed off his mobility with two impressive runs. The first saw him elude multiple defenders to get all the way down to the five-yard line. One play later, he scampered in for a five-yard touchdown run.

Rosario finished the day with 52 yards passing and 26 yards rushing.

“Jaiden was unbelievable,” said head coach Danny Kelly.

After a scoreless third quarter, Buettler put the game away in the fourth on an 18-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 21-6.

Kelly had high praise for his defense, which forced a turnover and had multiple stops behind the line of scrimmage

“You got a bunch of athletes out there on the field, tell them to go get after the ball, have fun, fly to the football.” said Kelly. “Honestly, they all worked really hard.”

As many of these players move on to the next phase of their lives, lessons from football and the family they gained will be vital to their growth as young men. For Rosario, the Lynn English coaching staff will always hold a special place in his heart.

“The coaching staff helped me a lot on and off the field, motivated me to do good in the classroom and I couldn’t thank them enough,” Rosario said.

These moments the players shared together is what makes Agganis week so special and the work the Agganis Foundation does every year to highlight the student athletes can’t be complimented enough.

“Unbelievable experience,” Kelly added. “I made sure they really knew about it, we talked about the importance of it. We were lucky enough to be coaching in it and I’m so appreciative.”