The Frank Varischetti All-Star Game Will be Played This Friday Under New Format
Tagged under: All-Stars, District 9, News
Phil Myers | June 21, 2021
Last year fans had to watch from a dump truck, this year the gates will be open.
The All Star game circuit was crushed by covid last year as, one after another, they were forced to cancel due to the Covid 19 outbreak. One game stood tall, the Frank Varischetti All Star Game. The game was delayed several times but eventually those in charge of the game made it happen on August 8th. It was the first football game, and quite frankly the first high school sports event, played since the schools shut down and the PIAA shuttered sports in mid March of 2020 due to the outbreak. Those seniors were likely the most excited athletes in the state that week.
This years seniors won’t miss out either. The game will be played on time and the gates will be wide open for the fans. No sitting on hill sides, in dump trucks or watching online. The 6th annual Frank Varischetti All-Star game will be played Friday, June 25, at Frank Varischetti Field in Brockway for all to go see. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
This year’s contest reflects a realignment in the D-9 league last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the five prior years the game pitted the best seniors from the Allegheny Mountain League (AML) against the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference (KSAC) senior all-stars. The AML won 4 of those 5 contests.
The North team includes players from Bradford, Kane, Ridgway, Elk County Catholic, St. Marys Area, Smethport, Port Allegany and Otto-Eldred. The team will be coached by Port Allegany head coach Justin Bienkowski.
The South, coached by Blane Gold of Redbank Valley, includes Brockway, Brookville, Curwensville, Central Clarion, DuBois Area, Karns City, Keystone, Moniteau, Punxsutawney, Redbank Valley and Union/AC Valley.
General admission tickets – $5 for adults, $2 for students – will be available at the gate. The concession stand will be open.
Prior to kickoff, each of the game’s 17 Game Sponsors will present a $1,000 scholarship to one of the players.
The North roster includes: Ryan Hughes, Austen Davis and Alex Liners of Bradford; Bobby Rumcik, Josh Buhl, Reese Novosel and Zuke Smith of Kane; Ben Briggs, Ricky Delhunty, Dominic Cherry, Jake Kunselman and Alex Bon of Ridgway; Sam Kaul, Bryan Schatz and Nick Crisp of Elk County Catholic; Terry Williams, Simon Sheeley, Garret Bauer, Connor Bressler, Mitchell Reiter and Jacob Kline of St. Marys Area; Dalton Distrola, Justin Young, Taro Tanaka and Trey Ayers of Port Allegany; Zazeric Bell, Ethan Smith and TJ Van Scoter of Otto-Eldred, and Braedon Johnson, Ryli Burritt, Kameron Rounsville and Adenn Stevens of Smethport.
The South team includes Ben Glasl and Conner Ryckman of Brockway; Jack Krug, Elliot Park and Robert Keth of Brookville; Curtis Caldwell, Scott Condon, Duane Brady and Jayce Witherite of Curwensville; Cutter Boggess, Calvin German and Hunter Craddock of Central Clarion; Dale Kot and Mason McDaniel of DuBois Area; Matt Griffiths, Nahtan Waltman and Kaden Scherer of Karns City; Keenan Heeter, Nick Weaver and Haden Peters of Keystone; Isaiah Usselman, Mason Mershimer and David Stamm of Moniteau; Brandon Ishman, Kameron Falgout and Joshua Miller of Punxsutawney; Dalton Bish, Coltin Bartley, Kobe Bonanno and Hudson Martz of Redbank Valley, and Tanner Merwin and Eli Penny of Union/AC Valley.
The Frank Varischetti Foundation, Brockway Area School District and Brockway Gridiron Association are the organizers of the event.
This was the only all-star game played in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2020 due to the pandemic.
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