BY SAPNA PATHAK

With many competitors wearing their favorite jerseys, old rivals reunited in the outfield at Merchantsauto.com Stadium for this year’s annual NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass and Kick competition.

Area athletes competed in the local portion of the national event sponsored by the National Football League, hosted by Neighborhood News and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Tuesday, Aug. 7.

Participants were split into four divisions for both girls and boys. Groups were 8- and 9-year-olds, 10- and 11-year-olds, 12- and 13-year-olds and 14- and 15-year-olds. Winners from each age group move on to the sectional competition in the fall.

The team championship, which takes place at an NFL stadium, and the national competition, held during an NFL playoff game, follow the sectional competition.

Competitors were allowed one punt, one pass and one kick; the distance of each was added for an overall score.

Salem’s Matt Carney took third in the boys 8- and 9-year-old division, kicking 65 feet, 2 inches, passing 34 feet, 9 inches, punting 32 feet, 9 inches and finishing with a score of 132 feet, 8 inches.

Salem natives Kyle Nagri and Brad Ratay each competed in the 10- and 11-year-old division.

Nagri’s performance included a punt of 50 feet, 1 inch, a 67-foot pass and a kick of 30 feet, 10 inches, combining for a final score of 147 feet, 11 inches. Ratay recorded a 44-foot, 5-inch kick, a pass of 42 feet, 8 inches and a punt of 23 feet, 11 inches for his total distance of 111 feet.

Making her first appearance at PP&K was 8-year-old Eva Liptak, who took first in her age division with a total of 56 feet, 1 inch. Jamie Nesbitt placed first in the girls 10- and 11-year-old division, finishing with a final distance of 150 feet, 10 inches.

All of the top performers were announced during the Fisher Cats’ game that evening, and their names appeared on the scoreboard.