WALTHAM — In the 45th annual Shriners Classic at Bentley on Friday night, it looked like, for sure, overtime was coming.

But then the North squad, with some late heroics, proved that would not be necessary.

After a late drive led by Peabody quarterback Shea Lynch and Andover running back Lincoln Beal, Andover’s Andrew Wetterwald booted a game-winning field goal as time ran out to give the North a thrilling 17-14 comeback win.

With the score tied at 14, the North took over on a turnover on downs at its own 40-yard line and just 27 seconds to play.

But Lynch, who was the North Offensive MVP, was a calm field general. He completed a 3-yard pass to Beal, then flipped the ball over a defender’s outstretched hand to Beal for a 19-yard catch-and-run on the next play. Beal carried the ball for an 8-yard gain to the South 30, and the North called timeout with six seconds left.

Lynch again made things happen with a completion to Beal that the running back ran out of bounds with less than a second remaining.

From there, Wetterwald booted the 36-yarder to power the North to victory. The Endicott-bound Lynch completed 13 of 17 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown.

“It was kind of a surreal moment,” Wetterwald said. “We lined up, and I don’t know, (Reading’s James Murphy) had a great hold, and it went through. So I was happy.”

“As a player, I feel like I’ve been prepared for (late, game-winning) drives my whole life,” Lynch said. “With this team, everyone out there is so confident. We’ve known each other for maybe a week and a half, two weeks. But we go out there, we have a great connection going on. I trust the O-line, receivers make the catches, and that’s how it is.”

It was a back-and-forth game throughout. The North dominated the early going, and took a 6-0 second-quarter lead when Lynch hit Masconomet’s Tyler McMahon on a 20-yard touchdown on fourth and goal.

The South responded with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Holliston quarterback T.J. Kiley to Hanover wide receiver Joseph Curran with just 20 seconds left in the half. Curran caught five passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, and was the South Offensive MVP.

In the third quarter, it looked like the South was in control, as Curran caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Brighton’s Sahmir Morales to help give the South a 14-6 advantage.

But the North countered. Everett quarterback Kamarri Ellerbe ran in a 2-yard touchdown with 5:23 to play. Murphy threw a two-point conversion to Wetterwald to tie it.

The teams traded interceptions – by Wakefield’s Javin Willis and Stoughton’s Tagh Swierzewski, respectively — before the last South drive ended near midfield on the turnover on downs.

The North took over from there.

“It was awesome,” Beal said. “I love all my teammates. The last two weeks have been awesome. The Shriners game is just unbelievable.”