White Team Wins Taliaferro Classic

Although an injury kept him from competing in the game, West Deptford lineman Josh Roane can still say he was on the winning team at the 22nd Adam Taliaferro All-Star Football Classic at Rowan University.

Roane’s teammates staged a furious 99-yard rally over the final one minute, 32 seconds to claim a 41-37 win for the White team over the Blue team.

Timber Creek quarterback Calvin Lowe scored the decisive touchdown on a one-yard keeper in the closing seconds. The score was set up by a 61-yard completion by Lowe to Pennsville’s Ryan Hawthorne on the opening play of the drive.

Hawthorne was one of the game‘s top performers, finishing with six catches for 142 yards and a 3-yard touchdown.

Pennsauken’s Amar Williams had a 92-yard kickoff return touchdown for the White team, while Millville’s Shaq Lee  scored two touchdowns on quarterback sneaks for the Blue team.

The White team was made up of players from Gloucester, Camden and Salem county high schools, while the Blue was made up of players from Atlantic, Cumberland, Burlington and Cape May counties.

Proceeds from the senior all-star game went to the Adam Taliaferro Foundation, which helps student-athletes who have suffered spinal cord injuries.

Taliaferro, a graduate of Eastern, was paralyzed after making a tackle for Penn State in a game against Ohio State in 2000. Though he was told by doctors that he would never walk again, Taliaferro went through rehabilitation, learned to walk again and is now a practicing attorney.

He was also elected to a seat on the Gloucester County Board of Freeholders in 2011.