SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va – University High’s Swiss Army knife, Jack Byrer, showed off the skills that made him one of the state’s most versatile football players, scoring touchdowns on the ground, through the air, and as a receiver as the North Bears used a stifling defense and timely passing attack to shut down the South Cardinals on the way to a 34-7 win in the 2026 North-South All-Star Football Classic at South Charleston High School.
Byrer was named North Most Valuable Player with 46 yards of total offense and three scores. After seeing time at quarterback, tight end, and defensive end back home for the Hawks, he said it felt good to show off his game.
“It was awesome. All week, we’ve been getting prepped with doing a bunch of different things, a lot of trick plays, a lot of different sets, offense and defense flipping around, so I think being able to take what I did there and kind of come and apply it down here means a lot,” he said.
The North established itself on the defensive side of the ball early, holding the South to two yards on the game’s opening possession and forcing a punt that put the Bear offense in position at its own 46.
Byrer did most of the damage on the ensuing drive, catching a 21-yard pass from Buckhannon-Upshur’s Dawson Tenney and rushing for another ten yards. His final touch of the possession put the first points on the board with a one-yard touchdown run that East Hardy’s Levi Price punctuated with the PAT to give the North a 7-0 lead.
After a sack by North Marion’s Toby Michael stunted the South’s second possession, the Bears rolled into Cardinal territory again, but University’s Ryder Hastings was stopped short on a fake punt at the 36-yard line. The South attempted a trick play of its own on the following drive, trying a double pass that fell incomplete on fourth down.
That handed the ball back to the Bears on the Cardinal 41 and Lincoln’s AJ Bart picked up where he left off in the fall, accounting for 38 yards through the air on a touchdown drive. He capped it with Byrer’s second touchdown of the day, this time a ten-yard passing score that set the score at 13-0 after a failed two-point try.
The South’s offensive struggles continued as it tried to respond with the following drive, losing ten yards after a fumbled flea-flicker attempt. On the Cardinals’ first four possessions of the game, the North allowed just two net yards of offense.
“Our defense was playing lights out, and that’s a testament to Coach (Derek) Stephen from Keyser and Coach (Terry) Rea from Washington. They got the guys ready and schematically had them in the right positions, and then the guys just did their thing and balled out,” North head coach Nick Mayle said.
The North’s second aerial score came just two plays after the South’s third punt, with Tenney going deep to Tytan Parsons for a 38-yard score, with Price’s extra point making it a 20-0 game. That score held into halftime, with a throw by Buffalo’s Hunter Rutan falling short of the end zone as time expired in the second quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out to start the second half, the South hoped to find some offense on the ground with Spring Valley’s Ezekiel Lewis carrying on the first two plays of the drive.
The Bear defense would have none of it, bowing up after allowing a first down, and with the Cardinals facing 4th down and six at their own 38, Patrick Webster stepped in front of Rutan’s pass and raced the other way for a touchdown. That moment had extra impact for Mayle who coached Webster at Philip Barbour.
“He actually played corner for us his junior year, and we had to move him to safety because he didn’t do a great job. He had an outstanding senior season at safety for us, and then we played him at corner, and I was telling Coach Rea, ‘I don’t know about it,’ and Coach Rea, he said on, like, Wednesday, ‘Listen, I’m telling you, Webster’s going to have a pick six in the game,’ and when it happened, I just turned around and looked at Coach Rea like, ‘I can’t believe it.'” Mayle said.
After another stop, Byrer’s star turn continued as a Bart strike of 20 yards to Brooke’s Marcus Reed teed the North offense up at the South 5. Byrer capped exercise in versatility with a touchdown toss to Bridgeport’s Harrison Hall to extend the lead to 34-0 with the PAT.
While he may have found three different ways to score, Byrer was focused on something completely different going into the game.
“I definitely was not thinking that. I was thinking more of just making sure I’m blocking well. That was my main mindset coming in,” he said.
The South refused to be taken off the scoreboard entirely, with Capital’s Christian Robinson intercepting a pass and returning it inside North territory with under a minute to go.
One play later, St. Albans’ quarterback Reese Lilly connected with Chapmanville’s Trey Ward for a 45-yard touchdown with 35 seconds to play.
Hampshire’s Landon Eversole brought the Bears onto the field in victory formation for one kneel-down and secured the 2026 North-South All-Star Classic for the North.
“We had 35 kids with 23 different high schools, and just within a week, we built a culture where they were playing like brothers and had each other’s back and doing everything that a team you would expect to do back home. I’m just super proud of them and super impressed with the young men that they are,” Mayle said.
Tenney led the North through the air, completing all four of his passes for 61 yards and a touchdown, while Bart went 4/5 for 58 yards and a score.
Spring Mills’ Blake Sanders finished as the North’s leading rusher with 20 yards on five carries, while Byrer totalled 31 receiving yards, ten rushing yards, and five passing yards.
Parsons led the way among North receivers with two catches for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Blake Fisher received the South MVP, contributing as a rusher, receiver, defender, and punter.
Lilly went 5/12 passing for the South for 70 yards and a touchdown as South Charleston’s Malcolm Brown led the Cardinals on the ground with 24 yards.
Bridgeport’s Noah West and Herbert Hoover’s Mighty Lopez received the game’s Offensive Lineman Awards, while the Defensive Lineman Awards went to Martinsburg’s Jordan Kovacs and Independence’s Izaac Redden.
The Charlie Maynard “Heart and Hustle” Award went to University’s Hastings and Greenbrier East’s Nate Suttle.