By DOUG DONNELLY

ADRIAN – Vaughn Brown almost didn’t play in Friday’s Monroe-Lenawee County Football All-Star game.

The Erie Mason graduate had knee surgery after basketball season and thought he re-injured right before the rosters were being finalized for the all-star game.

“I didn’t think I could play,” he said. “But right when the papers were due, I saw a doctor and he said it was just loose Cartlidge and cleared me to play. Of course I wanted to play, get out there one more time.”

Brown played quarterback for Monroe County and lofted a perfect pass to Dundee’s Braiden Whitaker in the third quarter Friday to give his team a 12-7 lead that they would never relinquish in a 14-7 victory. It was the first time Monroe County and Lenawee County have faced off in an all-star football game.

On a hot night at Siena Heights University in front of a large crowd, Brown, Whitaker and the rest of the Monroe County squad brought home the victory.

“It was so fun to play with these guys and meet some of them,” Brown said. “It was a great time.”

Whitaker, who has committed to playing football at Adrian College, said he told the Monroe County coaches a route he wanted to run moments before he caught the game-winning touchdown.

“The other receiver ran an ‘X’ and I said I could run that, too,” Whitaker said. “He threw it up and I came down with it. That’s all. I just went up and got it.”

The Monroe County defense did the rest, mostly shutting down Lenawee County except for one 65-yard touchdown run early in the game.

“Our defense played great all game,” said Monroe County coach T.J. Thieken, a Whiteford assistant. “We knew with the way our defense was we just needed a couple scores.”

Monroe County was shut out in the first half, but scored on the first drive of the second half, led by Whiteford’s Hunter DeBarr, who led the drive and scored from two yards out to put Monroe County on the board.

DeBarr played running back his four years on the Whiteford varsity but was pressed into quarterback duty Friday with Brown unable to go every play. DeBarr was named MVP of Monroe County’s squad after rushing for a team-high 65 yards and securing the win with an interception on the final play of the game.

“We had four safeties deep just to make sure they wouldn’t throw it over our heads, and they happened to throw it right where I was,” DeBarr said of the pick. “This game was so much fun.”

DeBarr was one of several Whiteford players that made an impact. Drew Knaggs had a sack, Brandon Knaggs was in on several tackles and had a safety in the fourth quarter and Kolby Masserant had a first half interception.

Whitaker finished with 37 yards receiving, including the 27-yard touchdown catch. Jefferson’s Malachi Pribyl ran hard, picking up 30 yards. Teigan Donovan of Flat Rock had a sack and Monroe’s Michael Burns caught three passes for 45 yards.

MONROE 0 0 12 2 — 14

LENAWEE 7 0 0 0 — 7

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

L – Max Danley 65 run (Coy Perry kick good), 4:56

Second Quarter

No Scoring

Third Quarter

M – Hunter Debarr 2 run (2pt failed), 3:33

M – Braiden Whitaker 27 pass from Vaughn Brown (2pt failed), 00:19

Fourth Quarter

M – Brandon Knaggs safety, 7:55

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING — Monroe: Debarr 16-65, Pribyl 5-30, Moore 9-18, Poling 4-17, Breslin 5-6, Brown 1-7, Whitaker 1-4, Richardson 1-3, Frazier 1-2, Kocinski 1-(-6). Total 44-146. Lenawee: Danley 2-66, Sword 3-25, Decker 5-13, Marry 2-2, Perry 4-(-10), Kelley 3-(-19). Total 19-87.

PASSING — Monroe: Debarr 1-4-1 2, Brown 8-15-1 110, Breslin 0-1-0 0. Total 9-20-2 112. Lenawee: Perry 0-2-0 0, Kelley 3-11-1 25, Sword 2-5-1 14. Total 5-18-2 29.

RECEIVING — Monroe: Burns 3-45, Whitaker 3-37, Richardson 1-18, Frazier 1-8, Herrera 1-4. Total 9-112. Lenawee: Bussell 2-13, Decker 1-12, Anspach 1-8, Ryan 1-6. Total 5-39.