PITTSBURGH — The defense never rested. It couldn't afford to.

The City All-Stars drove inside the Northern Area Football Coaches Association All-Stars' 20-yard line on three possessions Saturday afternoon at Cupples Stadium, but failed to score a point.

The result was a 20-0 victory for NAFCA in the annual high school football all-star series.

"The goal of this defense all week was to pitch a shutout," Avonworth coach Jason Kekseo, NAFCA's head coach, said. "It's all they were talking about."

The NAFCA team had only four practices together — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday — before playing the game.

"Shutouts in all-star games are rare things," Kekseo said. "It's a tribute to these kids, their love for the game and their desire to compete."

Butler County players had a major role in the blanking. The City squad — comprised of Pittsburgh City League, Central Catholic and Seton-LaSalle standouts — moved 63 yards on 15 plays with its second possession.

On first down from the NAFCA 10-yard line, Mars defensive end Pete King and Knoch middle linebacker Bill Elliott combined to stop Langley's Delshawn Alexander for no gain.

King was then in on a sack of Langley quarterback Matt Barnes. Butler cornerback Shane Snyder successfully denied consecutive passes into the end zone.

King was in on five of NAFCA's nine sacks on the day. He had 10 sacks during the season with Mars.

"It's fun playing defense and hitting people," King said. "It was a challenge playing against these guys. They had more speed than anybody we've played."

Early in the fourth quarter, the City stars drove inside NAFCA's 10-yard line again. King nailed Alexander for a 4-yard loss on first down and the City eventually turned the ball over on downs.The 20-0 shutout seemed safe when Hampton's Logan Bosiljevac scored on a 9-yard run with 46 seconds remaining. But Seton-LaSalle's Brandon Bogdanski returned the kickoff 55 yards and Central Catholic's Todd Hughes pulled in a 34-yard pass at the NAFCA 3-yard line.From there, two passes were incomplete. On third down, Elliott stopped Bogdanski after a 1-yard gain. On fourth down, King and Elliott hit Barnes as he threw, causing his pass to flutter to the turf."This was big. It means a lot to us," Elliott said of the shutout. "You're playing against the best. You're not allowed to blitz or rush kicks because these games want to promote offense."Instead, players like King and Elliott promoted themselves."Those kids are hard-nosed football players," Kekseo said. "There's got to be a future for them in this game somewhere."Elliott is planning on going to Slippery Rock University and will likely play football there. King hopes to play as well, but isn't sure where."I'm hoping this game earned me some looks," he said.North Hills quarterback Ryan Lehmeier was named NAFCA's team MVP. He threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Hampton's Shawn Hennesey on the team's first possession and scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.Mars running back Paul Ferrese was NAFCA's leading rusher with 48 yards on seven carries.Carrick linebacker Brandon Carter was named the City's team MVP though Alexander had 120 yards on 16 carries.Butler's Andrew Goettler averaged 42 yards on three punts. Mars linebacker Matt Whittington and Knoch defensive end Greg Braden also saw action in the game.