Gwinnett Daily Post

Taylor Heinicke

COLUMBUS — The North squad in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association North-South All-Star Game carried three quarterbacks, all from Gwinnett County, Taylor Heinicke of Collins Hill, Kent Rollins of South Gwinnett and C. J. Uzomah of North Gwinnett

But two of them made their biggest splashes at receiver while the third was named the North MVP in throwing for three scores in the 22-0 North victory over the South.

The North offense garnered only 13 total yards in the first quarter but led 3-0 when Christian Harris (Etowah) returned a South fumble 38 yards to set up a Will Monday (Flowery Branch) 32-yard field goal.

North MVP Heinicke capped a two play, 70-yard drive by scrambling and finding fellow quarterback turned receiver Rollins for a 66-yard score for a 9-0 lead early in the second quarter.

“I just rolled out, they were playing man to man,” Heinicke said of the long pass. “No one was open on the front side and on the back side he was wide open.”

“It’s fun to come out here and do something that you don’t normally do,” Rollins said. “Catching the touchdown pass was just icing on the cake. I was scared I was going to drop it the whole time.”

With only 38 seconds remaining in the first half, Heinicke struck again, this time finding Uzomah for a 9-yard score. Monday’s extra point made it a 16-0 North halftime lead.

Heinicke added a third touchdown pass when he found Broderick Snoddy (Carrollton) in the flats. Snoddy did the rest by outrunning the South defense 28 yards for the only score of the second half.

“This whole week has been really fun, hanging out with the guys and stuff,” Uzomah said. “Taylor Heinicke is a great quarterback and a bunch of great playmakers around me. I think I could get used to it.”

When asked about how he hopes to be used as a collegian at Auburn, Uzomah said, “I hope to play the same thing I was playing here, a slot receiver.”

Heinicke finished the game throwing for 243 yards on 19 of 25 passing.

“I’m a competitor so I want to win but I just wanted to have fun,” Heinicke said of his goals coming into the game. “I knew I had the athletes and the line to protect for me if I just got them the ball they could make things happen.”