On the GEFA Trail—Williamsport Wildcats. Bonus Coverage—Big 33 High School All Star Game

Tagged under: All-Stars, District 11, GEFA, News

Guy Smith | May 29, 2024

2024 Episode 10. That’s ten straight weeks of spring football for us. But it looks like that streak ends there, as we have no football scheduled for the current week.

Last week we doubled up with football on both Saturday and Sunday. The sports week started with Modified racing at the Kutztown Fairgrounds Action Track USA on Wednesday, NCAA D3 National Championship Tournament softball at Rowan University on Thursday, Quarter Midget racing at Blue Mountain on Friday, GEFA football in Williamsport Saturday afternoon, more Modified racing at Evergreen Raceway Saturday night, the Big 33 game at Cumberland Valley on Sunday, and the NCAA D1 men’s lacrosse national championship game in Philadelphia on Monday. That ended a run of 19 sporting events in 19 days.

2024 GAME 15. SATURDAY, MAY 25. HAZLETON MUSTANGS VS. WILLIAMSPORT WILDCATS, ROUNDHOUSE FIELD, WILLIAMSPORT, PA. The Williamsport Wildcats were our 8th GEFA event of the year, the Kickoff Classic and then home games for seven different teams. Before the season, the Wildcats announced that they would be playing their home games this year at the high school stadium in Williamsport, and in fact that was also the originally announced location for the Kickoff Classic. But stadium renovations prevented GEFA use this season and they ended up with Roundhouse Field as their home game site.

This was the only game in GEFA town on the holiday weekend, so we had this game penciled in all season. We wavered a bit after finding out that the WFA Harrisburg Havoc game, also on Saturday and originally scheduled for Palmyra High School, was moved to McCaskey High School in Lancaster. Really wanted to go, but in the end we decided to stick with the original plan. By the way, the Havoc won 12-0 to up their season record to 3-1. They are home this coming Saturday, back at Payralm against the Connecticut Ambush.

The Wildcats entered the game with a 5-2 record, only losing to the two unbeaten teams, the Bedford County Buffaloes and the Moshannon Valley Vikings. We felt we owed them one, as we left the third game of the Kickoff Classic in the third quarter due to the cold and missed the Wildcats great comeback to beat the Wilkes-Barre Warriors.

The Mustangs were 3-3. We also felt some affinity for them, because they played such a good game against the Dauphin County Comanche only to lose on the final play, one that some believe should never have taken place.

The parking lot at Roundhouse Field is quite small, and we didn’t trust parking there, opting for street parking instead. Our instincts were good, as it wasn’t long before cars were parked in and one person was walking all around trying to find the owner of the car blocking him.

There was a food truck on site, operated by Tag’s Foods. We both tried the chicken parm bowl, and it was excellent. Underpriced at $8. You’d have to go back to the Kickoff Classic and the burrito bowls from Deez Tacos to find any food that could match what Tag’s was offering.

There are some small bleachers at the one end of the field, but we opted for our lawn chairs at the other end. There was an operating scoreboard, but it was only used for the score, not the clock.

The Wildcats showed they have the talent to go all the way by recording a convincing 56-34 victory. They should be able to win their last two games to finish 10-2 including a win over the Comanche. The loss to the Vikings was by just two points, and they scored over 50 in their other loss to the Buffaloes. The only problem was that the defense gave up 70 that day. The Mustangs are in the hunt for a playoff spot, but two straight losses have dropped them to a losing record. There are three weeks left in the regular season.

2024 GAME 16. SUNDAY, MAY 26. PSFCA Big 33: PENNSYLVANIA VS. MARYLAND—CUMBERLAND VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL, MECHANICSBURG, PA. For the third consecutive year, we attended the Big 33 game. Last year the game was at Bishop McDevitt. This year it moved to Cumberland Valley, the site of the PA state championships, and had a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. We thought there was a very good crowd on hand.

The game dates back to 1957 and when they say it’s “more than just a football game,” they mean it. In addition to the football game, Big 33 includes the All-Star Cheerleaders, the Big 33 Buddy Team, Host Families, Youth Clinics, Girls’ Flag Football Tournament, Hall of Fame, Big 33 Legends, and more.

What we think is likely the most amazing stat in all of high school football is that all 58 NFL Super Bowl games have included a Big 33 game alumni, starting with Herb Adderley from Northeast High School in Philadelphia in 1967 to Kevin Givins (Altoona Area High School) and Brett Veach (Mount Carmel High School) this year. Over 140 former Big 33 players have also played in the Super Bowl.

Big 33 alumni include 16 players that have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and four Heisman Trophy winners.

We were happy to see Bricker’s Fries, Gio’s BBQ, and Farm Show Milkshakes back this week.

Unfortunately, there were no PA District 11 players in the game this year. Two players from D11 were on the roster printed in the program, Mario Landino of Emmaus and Noah Rosahac of Jim Thorpe. They were listed as “Honorable Players” and were not able to participate in the game. There was an assistant coach to represent D11, that being Wally Hall of North Schuylkill. Representing D11 on the cheer squad were Madison Eller of Stroudsburg, Ciara Green of Pleasant Valley, Kalina Chmiel of Dieruff, and Kelsey Witmer of Tri-Valley.

The game was not really competitive this year. Pennsylvania, with an exceptional air game, put on a passing clinic in the first half and jumped out to a 31-0 lead. They called off the dogs in the second half, and scored no additional points. Maryland did manage one second half touchdown making the final score 31-7.

In 2013 Maryland replaced Ohio as the opponent to team Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has now won the last five in a row, last losing 9-6 in 2018. In fact, Maryland has only scored more than one touchdown once in that span, and that was in a losing effort.

Game MVP Tyseer Denmark made several spectacular catches and scored three TDs. Denmark is headed to Penn State so it looks like his story in PA football will continue on for the foreseeable future.

For the second week in a row at CV, we lucked out and were heading to the exit just as they started offering all hot food for a dollar at the refreshment stand. Buck apiece cheeseburgers for the drive home are exceptionally delicious.

Big 33 ended our four-game spring high school football all-star season, but we still plan on 4-6 more GEFA games this season. Feedback Welcome: rtryfbar@aol.com.

GUY & PAM 2024 FOOTBALL SCORECARD (16 Games as of May 26)

Week 0—GEFA: Kickoff Classic (Central Columbia High School, 3 Games)
Week 1—GEFA: Bedford County Buffaloes (Claysburg-Kimmel High School)
Week 2—GEFA: Dauphin County Comanche (Koons Park, Linglestown)
Week 3—AIF Arena Football: Harrisburg Stampede (PA Farm Show Complex)
Week 4—GEFA: Berks County Raptors (Exeter Township High School)
Week 5—GEFA: Hazleton Mustangs (Gene Della Croce Memorial Field)
Week 6—GEFA: Wilkes Barre Warriors (Exeter Panther Junior Football Assoc. Field)
Week 6–High School: Schuylkill / Colonial All Star Game (North Schuylkill High School)
Week 7—GEFA: Coal County Nightmare (St. Clair Veteran’s Memorial Stadium)
Week 7–WFA Women’s Football—Harrisburg Havoc (Palymyra High School)
Week 8—High School: PSFCA All Star Games (Cumberland Valley High School)
Week 9—GEFA: Williamsport Wildcats (Roundhouse Field)
Week 9—High School: PSFCA Big 33 (Cumberland Valley High School)

On the Spring Radar. GEFA: Indiana County Crusaders, Moshannon Valley Vikings, Keystone Bowl, All-Star Game.

Missed. GEFA: Somerset County Miners (home season ended), Monroeville Titans (team folded). WFA: Harrisburg Havoc @ McCaskey High School (last minute site change).

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