Just nine days after throwing curveballs in the PIAA Class AA championship game Seth Napierkowski was throwing touchdown passes in the Foothills Classic.

A three-year starter at quarterback for Burrell High School, his football career could have ended Oct. 26 after a loss to Valley. But he was among 75 WPIAL players selected to play in the all-star game this past Saturday.

And Napierkowski made the most of it, helping lead the North past the South, 13-6.

"It was just a lot of fun," Napierkowski said. "I really had a good time playing with all the guys from different schools. They were all great. No one was there for selfish reasons; they were there to play together and try to win."

In a lightning-shortened game -- one half and a kickoff return to be exact -- at Norwin High School stadium, the Burrell senior led the way, going 4 for 7 passing for 44 yards and surprising many of the coaches with his mobility. He opened the North's third possession of the game with a 23-yard run.

"His performance didn't surprise me at all," said Dave Heavner, Napierkowski's football coach at Burrell. "He is a very smart football player and is the kind of kid you go over a play with once and he is going to understand that very quickly. With Seth it's almost like having another coach on the field.

"I was hoping to see what he could do in the second half. I am sure he would have done just as well."

On a critical game-tying drive, Napierkowski kept things going with a fourth down 12-yard pass to Jimmy Curran from Franklin Regional. Chris Loving from Serra Catholic would later score on the drive.

Napierkowski's football career is far from over. He plans on playing at Carnegie Mellon in the fall. He even got a head start on putting together some CMU clothing by leading the North to a win.

North head coach Greg Botta of Franklin Regional wore a pair of Carnegie Mellon shorts to a practice and Napierkowski asked about them. Botta told him he could have them if the North won.

"My son played there, so I had them on and now I guess I have to give them to him," Botta laughed. "Seth just played beautifully in the game. We were very happy with his performance. Putting a team together in five days, you better have a quarterback who understands what you are putting in."

Napierkowski met another future Carnegie Mellon player -- Ryan Kissell, a wide receiver from Latrobe -- at the Classic. Other Burrell players to make the Foothills Classic roster were fullback Frank Gigler, defensive end Skyler Staley and fellow baseball player Steve Yakopec, who was sorely missed during the regular season in football after an ACL injury in the fourth game. Burrell started 4-0 but was unable to bounce back from losing Yakopec and finished 4-5.

Napierkowski and Yakopec were able to make up for lost time on the diamond with a memorable run through the WPIAL and PIAA Class AA playoffs. They advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals and to Altoona for the PIAA championship game where they were defeated, 8-3, by Loyalsock Township.

Despite the long baseball season and quick turnaround for the Foothills Classic, Napierkowski said fatigue was not a factor in the game. Out of the seven practices he missed only two. He attended the June 12 practice as a spectator because he had to pitch the next day and then missed the next day's practice because of the game. Still, he was able to join the team at quarterback and not miss a beat.

"The toughest part wasn't getting to know the offenses because the coaches did a real good job simplifying things for us," Napierkowski said."The toughest part was getting the throwing motion back. Going from throwing curve balls to throwing a football requires a completely different arm motion."