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Taliaferro all-star game means much to many players

Jeremy Boucher had not thought about Wednesday night as a last. But it will be the last time the recent Pennsville graduate plays football with teammate and co-captain Ryan Simpkins.

Jeremy Boucher had not thought about Wednesday night as a last.

But it will be the last time the recent Pennsville graduate plays football with teammate and co-captain Ryan Simpkins.

It will be their last high school football game, the bookend for an emotional year.

The Adam Taliaferro Foundation All-Star Classic, set to kickoff at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Rowan University, provides a fitting end.

"It makes this more than another football game," Boucher said. And not just because of the level of competition. For him, it is part football game, part celebration of resilience.

Just more than a year ago, his friend and Pennsville star wide receiver Kyle Pszenny was hit by a car while skateboarding and suffered a severe brain injury. Dedicating their season to Pszenny, Pennsville went on to win the South Jersey Group 1 football championship on the same Rowan field on which Boucher and Simpkins will play Wednesday night.

Boucher has watched Pszenny recover, return to school, even attend the prom. That experience has made it particularly special for him to represent the Taliaferro Foundation, which helps athletes who suffer serious head and spinal injuries.

Taliaferro, a former Penn State cornerback, suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed during a game at Ohio State his freshman year. Doctors said there was a three percent chance he would walk again. Three months later, he walked out of Philadelphia's Magee Rehabilitation Hospital.

The game "could help someone down the road, someone I don't even know, dealing with something like that," Boucher said, noting Pszenny might attend the game to cheer on his teammates.

Since arriving at Rowan on Sunday, the athletes, recent graduates from across South Jersey, have been put to work with two-a-day, sometimes three-a-day practices. Even the practices are fun, Boucher said. No one is talking themselves too seriously, he said. Instead, they are enjoying their last days as high school players.

For Abdiel Richards, Wildwood's running back and defensive back on the blue squad, it may be the last time he plays in front of a large group of friends and family. On July 19, he will leave for Bakersfield, California, where he will play football at the junior college there.

Moorestown quarterback Mike DiMarino, who is also on the blue squad, will head to Penn State. He won't play football there but hopes to join the Nittany Lions squad in some other capacity, perhaps as a student manager.

Vinny Guckin, a white team wide receiver from Cherry Hill East, will play at the College of New Jersey. But he said this game will still be bittersweet.

"There is nothing like high school football," Guckin said. "You grow up with those guys."

As for Pennsville's Boucher, he will attend Rowan and hopes to play baseball or football there. If he doesn't make the football team, he realized, Wednesday will be the last time he puts on pads.

"It's going to be weird," Boucher said. "I can't even tell you what that is going to feel like."

emccarthy@phillynews.com

@ErinMcPSU

What: Annual Adam Taliaferro Foundation-South Jersey Football Coaches Association (SJFCA) Blue-White All-Star Classic

When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 29

Where: Rowan University football stadium, Carpenter Street, Glassboro, N.J.

Tickets: $10 at the gate, proceeds benefit the Adam Taliaferro Foundation

BLUE ROSTER

Head Coach - John Rosnick ( Pemberton)

1, Austin Shiner, Absegami, WR

2, Jamir Prevard, Atlantic City, QB

3, Kameron Kennedy, Palmyra, WR

4, Jeff Korinko, Florence, LB

7, Skyler Clark, Moorestown, WR

8, Sam Pawlikowski, Seneca, LB

9, Abdiel Richards, Wildwood, DB

11, Mike DiMarino, Moorestown, QB

12, Joshua Flowers, Lenape, CB

14, Antoine Wilson, Pemberton, WR

15, Chris Carey, St Joes Hammonton, LB

16, Ryan Rickards, Cherokee, WR

18, Devon Taylor, Cinnaminson, WR

20, Justin Snuffer, Maple Shade, DB

21, Robbie Forchion, Pemberton, RB

22, Moses Vance, Northern Burlington, RB

23, Ryan Loftus, Moorestown, K

24, Noah Davis, Pemberton, CB

25, Dietrich Trumbauer, Egg Harbor Twp, LB

28, Xavier Santos, RV, DB

29, Jessie Goodwin, Middle Twp, LB

33, David Gamble, Moorestown, WR

34, Jeff Konzelman, RV, FB/TE

35, Rob Rodilico, Holy Cross, RB

50, Eric Burch, Pleasantville, OL

51, Joe Walkowiak, Ocean City, DE

52, Noah Lyles Harris, Atlantic City, LB

53, Donnie Morgan, Burlington City, LB

54, Jahlen Joyner, Burlington Twp, DL

55, Trevor Malaszecki, St Augustine, DL

56, Kevaughn Street, Bridgeton, OL

57, Breon Bonner, Bridgeton, DL

58, Antonio Rodriguez, Buena, DL

59, James Geisel, Cedar Creek, OL

63, Latrell Harris, Cumberland, DL

67, Devon Rolen, Delran, OL

69, David Gajderowicz, Shawnee, DE

75, Chris Marsh, Atlantic City, OL

76, Nick Lyon, Absegami, OL

77, Ted Guant, Riverside, OL

78, Miles Sampson, Hammonton, OL

94, Juan Gonzalez, Vineland, P

WHITE ROSTER

Head Coach - Robert Cormier (Bishop Eustace)

1, Donavon Lewis, Woodstown, DB

2, David Still, Glassboro, WR

3, Drew Tomlinson, Haddonfield, K/P

4, Quincy Jenkins, Cherry Hill West, WR

5, Darius Triplett, Woodbury, QB

6, Elijah Rehm, Clayton, DB

7, Jahmir King, Collingswood, DB

10, Brian Furlong, Audubon, QB

11, Nick Grasso, Washington Twp., WR/DB

12, Joe Early, Williamstown, RB

13, Kurtis Straubmuller, Haddon Twp., DB

14, Nick Smith, Haddon Heights, WR

20, Deron Hicks, Highland, DB

21, Charles Naone-Carter, Sterling, DB

22, Marquon Jones, Pennsauken, RB

23, Josh Davis, Gateway, RB

30, Keshawn Branham, Winslow, RB

32, Dominic Staiano, Triton, RB

33, John Santini, Paul VI, LB

34, Andrew Burkhardt, Gloucester, LB

45, Trebor Maldonado, Salem, DL

46, Dymell Parker, Camden, LB

47, Marcus Bradshaw, Collingswood, DL

48, Frank Fortino, Haddonfield, LB

50, Eli Lapp, Audubon, OL

51 Jake Stillings, Camden Catholic, OL/DL

52, Amari Graham, Eastern, OL/DL

53, Qaadir Campbell, Glassboro, LB

54, Marc Franklin, Gloucester Catholic, LB

55, Bob Brewer, West Deptford, OL/DL

56, Vito Nucci, Clearview, OL/DL

57, Gabe Carson, Pitman, OL/DL

58, Ryan Simpkins, Pennsville, LB

59, Mitchell Baraldi, Overbrook, LB

60, Trevor McDade, Bishop Eustace, OL/DL

61, Brandon Niewinski, Triton, OL/DL

64, Mark Chaney, Delsea, OL/DL

65, Matt Bartholomew, Clearview, OL/DL

75, Dan Giaquinto, Washington Twp., OL/DL

85, Matt Klitchko, Bishop Eustace, TE

86, Wale Mustafa, Kingsway, TE

87, Derrick Clement, Deptford, WR

88, Vinny Guckin, Cherry Hill East, WR

89, Jeremy Boucher, Pennsville, WR