Westerville South product B.J. Cunningham of Michigan State caught a touchdown pass for the East, but the West rallied for a 24-17 victory yesterday in the 87th East-West Shrine all-star game.

Cunningham caught two passes for 26 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown pass from Tennessee-Chattanooga’s B.J. Coleman to give the East a 10-0 lead at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.

But Louisiana Tech’s Lennon Creer scored on a 9-yard run with 47 seconds remaining for the West’s winning touchdown.

Quarterbacks Chandler Harnish of Northern Illinois and Tyler Hansen of Colorado had short touchdown runs for the West.

Greg Zuerlein of Missouri Western State kicked a field goal that tied the score at 17 early in the fourth quarter, setting the stage for Harnish to lead the winning drive in the closing minutes.

The University of Miami’s LaRon Byrd caught a touchdown pass for the East, which also got a first-half field goal from Georgia’s Blair Walsh.

Coleman started for the East and was followed by Southern Mississippi’s Austin Davis and Florida’s John Brantley. Harnish started for the West and scored on a 1-yard run that finished a 19-play, 80-yard drive. Less than five minutes later, Hansen ran 3 yards for a short-lived 14-10 advantage.

Davis tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Byrd to put the East ahead 17-14 at the half.

Alabama celebration

An estimated 32,000 Alabama fans filled one side of Bryant-Denny Stadium nearly two weeks after the Crimson Tide’s second national championship in three years. They watched highlights from the season and heard from coach Nick Saban and several players.

Saban said he has never coached a team that was more determined or seen a more dominant performance than the 21-0 victory over LSU in the championship game. “I absolutely love this team and what they were able to accomplish,” he said.

The championship came after a deadly tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa and Alabama, and offensive lineman Aaron Douglas died from a drug overdose.

“We needed this here and we’re glad to bring it back to Tuscaloosa, and try and bring hope and faith back to our town,” running back Trent Richardson said.