Freehold’s Worthy scores two TDs in annual North/South all-star game

Ashante Worthy is not done scoring touchdowns on New Jersey football fields.

Worthy, the all-everything quarterback out of Freehold High School, scored two touchdowns in the 40th annual Phil Simms North/South High School All-Star Classic that was played on June 25.

Worthy’s two touchdowns helped guide the South past the North, 38-16, at Kean University in Union.

“It means a lot to be here today,” Worthy said when the game was just beginning that evening. “I met a lot of good people over the weekend that I’m going to be friends with, we made a strong bond.”

Worthy will continue his playing career this fall at Lackawanna College, a junior college in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Worthy explained the reasoning he is going a junior college route before he embarks on a career at a four-year school.

“It means a lot to continue my playing career,” he said. “I felt that this was a better opportunity to get to a D1 level school and to get my head right and to get my game better.”

The South was coached by the Freehold staff along with celebrity coach L.J. Smith, a former professional wide receiver and tight end who hails from Highland Park.

Freehold head coach Dave Ellis steered his high school team to a 9-3 record and a berth in the Central Jersey, Group 4 state sectional playoff final. The Colonials fell in the playoff title game in overtime, 43-42, to Long Branch High School.

“It’s always great to coach your kid one more time,” Ellis said. “Especially a kid like him, [Worthy] he’s a special player. But really, it’s nice for all of these guys, all of these guys deserve to be here, and we’ve got a really great squad here, and I’m excited to see everyone play.”

Worthy completed an astounding career in high school.

This past fall season, Worthy not only set the New Jersey single-season rushing record with 2,860 yards, but he also established the record for most offensive yards with 4,966.

Worthy also amassed a total of 61 touchdowns produced, which was another single-season record in New Jersey. The 61 touchdowns were 41 he rushed for and 20 that he passed for. He finished his scholastic career with a total of 6,400 yards rushing, second all-time in the Shore Conference.

Another local player who came off an All-State and record-breaking season and was a member of the South squad was running back Naim Mayfield from Manalapan High School.

But the explosive Mayfield did not participate in the all-star game left prior to the beginning of the contest with a minor knee injury.

The Fordham University recruit established a state record with 46 rushing touchdowns this past fall when he led Manalapan to an 11-1 record and to a spot in the Central Jersey, Group 5 state playoff championship game. Manalapan was edged by South Brunswick High School in the playoff final, 18-14.

Mayfield rushed for 2,681 yards on 203 carries  and finished with a total of 48 touchdowns this past fall.

Phil Simms, the former New York Giants quarterback and longtime NFL analyst for CBS, has sponsored the North-South all-star game since 2014.

“It’s great,” Simms said. “This is probably the greatest two teams we have assembled during the last five years that I’ve been doing this. I think this continues to get better every year, I wish that it would get better at a faster rate, but it is growing, and it shows. We’re marching forward and getting better and better players here in New Jersey.”

Here are the players from the region who participated in that first all-star game 40 years ago that was played at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway.

Steve Bethune, Matawan Regional High School; Glenn Edwards, Jackson Memorial High School;  Joseph Fischer, East Brunswick High School; Leif Hartkopf, Middletown High School South;  Mike Ibrahim, North Brunswick Township High School; Jim Jeffcoat, Matwan Regional High School; Nick Lubischer, Shore Regional High School; Pat Miller, John P. Stevens High School; Nick Sottiriou, John P. Stevens High School; Jeff Susan, South River High School.