Defense dominant in Pennsylvania’s win over New York

Tagged under: All-Stars, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News

David Burnworth | August 7, 2022

Yesterday I drove to Lowellville, Ohio to meet up with my good friend @Sykotyk so we could make our way to Bradford, Pennsylvania to cover the 49th Annual Big 30 Charities Classic. The game pits all-stars from Pennsylvania against all-stars from New York. The crowd again was very stout for this game, as I have learned that fans from both areas of their respective states are football crazy. First, I want to thank the staff who ran the game props for the first-class treatment they gave us, and second, I want to thank Coach Harper from CSP (New York) for the shirt and for talking to Sykotyk both before and after the game.

Just a little over one minute into the game, Julis Childs (Olean) got to Pennsylvania quarterback Noah Lent (Smethport) for a loss of seven yards. The home team would come within a yard of converting a third and fifteen when Alex Ognen (Smethport) picked up fourteen yards on a nice run offensive play. I discovered that Ognen was playing with an injury that would necessitate surgery soon. Jake Costanzo (Kane) would keep the defensive units on the forefront when he got to Zach Winters (Frewburg) for a short loss. Still in the opening quarter, at the 6:03 mark, Drake Vanderhoof (Eisenhower) would stop the New York ball carrier for a loss of four yards. After all, was said and done in this one, Vanderhoof would have had an excellent game. There would be two more nice defensive plays made before the quarter came to a close. The first came from New York, with Ellis Logan (Pioneer) sacking Lent for an eight-yard loss. And the last one came from Elijah Fitton (Bradford), who picked off a hurried pass from New York quarterback Lucas Marsh (Franklinville/Ellicottville).

Conner Straub (St. Mary’s) collected a crisp pass from Christian Coudriet (St. Mary’s), picking up fourteen yards. I thought the strategy of teaming up a quarterback with one of his skill position players from Pennsylvania was brilliant. In an all-star game where teams are lucky to get nine or ten practices together, any little advantage for the offense is a plus. Facing a fourth and seven, Chance Palmer (Otto-Eldred) stunned the New York all-stars when he picked up eleven yards to move the chains. Childs would get a stop on Coudriet, causing a loss of three yards with 12:01 left in the scoreless opening half. The biggest offensive play of the half came with 7:57 left on the clock, with Lent picking up twenty-nine yards all the way down to the New York one-yard line. With the help of his tenacious offensive line, Len then walked into the endzone. Lent then put on his kicking shoes and nailed the point after to give the home team a 7-0 lead, with 7:57 showing on the clock.

For me, the biggest difference in this contest was the dominating play of the Pennsylvania defensive line, and this again showed up big time when Dan Park (Ridgway) slammed Marsh to the ground for a loss of fifteen yards, with 5:42 left in the half. Then Justice Green (Warren) made the PAFOOTBALLNEWS play of the game by sacking Brody Hopkins (Pioneer), causing a fumble on which he pounced like a puma picking off a running rabbit. Lent would avoid a sack then, using some nice field vision and Barry Sanders-like moves, somehow pick up sixteen yards to move the chains with 3:08 showing on the clock. The PAFOOTBALLNEWS player of the game, Noah Lent, closed out the drive with a one-yard touchdown run, putting his team up 14-0 after he converted another point after kick. New York would come up with the last two big plays of the half. First, Ryan Stillman (Portville) fielded a punt and picked up nearly forty-five yards on the return. The New York defense ended the first half with Andrew Bola (Franklinville/Ellicottville) sacking Coudriet.

New York, using the momentum they took into the locker room, thanks to their defense, came out looking like a new team to begin the third. Using running from Luke Pagett (Randolph) and Jamison Pittman (Olean), they worked the ball down to the home team’s five-yard line. From there, Pittman pranced in for the first New York score of the game. After Railey Silvas (Olean) converted the point after kick, we had a 14-7 game.

The New York defense would come up big when Jack Buney (Pioneer) stopped Ognen for a short loss after Ognen made a catch. Then Logan Ellis (Pioneer) recorded a sack to force a punt, giving the ball back to his offense. Just when it seemed New York was going to drive in for the tying score, a series of bad plays caused them to face a fourth and forty-something in which they never recovered.

In the final frame, Jasiah Jarocinski (Pioneer) got to Lent, throwing him down for a big loss after a bad snap. Lent quickly recovered, connecting with Cameron Marciniak (Johnsonburg) for a 49-yard touchdown with 11:50 remaining to make it a 20-7 game. Special teams’ play is the most overlooked part of football, but with 10:22 left on the clock, it was the main focus of everyone in the stadium when a bad snap on a punt by New York allowed the home team to start their next just three yards from pay dirt. Lent would throw a one-yard touchdown pass to Eric SLBERG (Ridgway). Lent was true on his point after kick to put his team up 27-7 with 9:19 left in the game.

In 3:42, each team came up with one final big play. For the home team, Chase Weimer (Port Allegany) picked off a pass, and then for New York, Josua Bush scooped up a fumble and took it to the house to give us our final score of 27-13.

UNOFFICIAL STATS

New York

60 plays

73 yards

Passing

4-12-2 Int’s

Pennsylvania

66 plays

221 yards

Passing

13-21-3 Touchdowns

For all of the pics
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10225432361950411&type=3