Six more players have agreed to play in the 33rd annual Big 30
Don Raabe Charities Classic.
Coudersport’s David Babcock, Elk County Catholic’s Aaron Seelye
and Sheffield’s Alex Grubbs were added to the Pennsylvania
roster.
Babcock, 6-0, 190 pounds, was a running back and defensive back.
He is undecided where he will continue his education, but will
major in either engineering or accounting.
Babcock was the Olean (N.Y.) Times Herald Big 30 Player of the
Year and a member of the Big 30 All-star team, an AML All-Star,
D9sports.com player of the week for week one and Coudersport’s Best
Offensive Back in the 2004 season.
He says he wants to play in the Big 30 Game because of the
“honor, tradition and recognition of being good enough to play in
an all-star game of this magnitude.”
Being part of a great team that was able to play well as a team
and win big games with teamwork were his biggest thrills.
Some of his hobbies are sports, snowmobiling, riding
four-wheelers, playing video games and fantasy football. Penn State
is his favorite team and LaDainian Tomlinson his favorite
player.
Seelye, 6-2, 200 pounds, will major in secondary education at an
undecided college. He is an Olean Times Herald Big 30 All-Star, an
AML All-Star and was on the Tri-County Second-Team defensive
unit.
He wants to play in the Big 30 Game, “to play another game with
good players.”
Seelye’s biggest football thrill was making the playoffs two
years in a row. His hobbies are sports and music.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are his favorite team and Troy Polamalu
his favorite player.
Grubbs, 6-0, 165 pounds, was a tight end and outside linebacker.
He will major in forestry at Penn State’s Behrend Campus. In
football he is a recipient of the Wolverine Award and is a
three-year letterman. In basketball, Grubbs was a co-captain and a
two-year letterman.
“I feel it is a great honor and I think it will be a lot of
fun,” he said as to why he wants to play in the Big 30 Game.
His biggest football thrills come from catching a pass for a big
gain or a first down.
Grubbs’ hobbies are football, basketball, camping and
hunting.
His favorite team is the Cleveland Browns and Braylon Edwards
his favorite player.
Named to the New York squad were Jake Clark of Ellicottville,
Neil Fay of Olean High and Jeff Durow of Randolph.
Clark, 5-9, 180 pounds, played left guard on offense and middle
linebacker on defense.
He will study high performance motors at either Northwestern
University or Alfred State.
In 2005, Clark was an Olean Times Herald Big 30 All-star, Big 30
Unsung lineman of the year and Section VI Class D Defensive MVP. In
2004 he was WJTN MVP, Section VI Class D Defensive player of the
year, first team Cattaraugus County All-star, team defensive MVP,
Olean Times Herald All-Star and first-team All-State.
He wants to play in the Big 30 game because “it is a great
accomplishment to be chosen and I love the game of football.”
His biggest thrills were receiving awards and being chosen the
unsung lineman of the year for 2005. His hobbies are racing stock
cars and building motors. The Buffalo Bills are his favorite team
and Joe Montana his favorite player.
Fay, 5-11, 190 pounds, played running back on offense and strong
safety and outside linebacker on defense.
He will major in ceramic engineering and business at Alfred
University or Buffalo State.
Fay is an Olean Times Herald Big 30 All-star, Jim Braxton
offensive MVP, New York State First-Team All-Star, Olean’s 2005 MVP
and a multiple Connolly Cup Award nominee. In 2004, he won the
George Burlingame Memorial award.
He thinks “it is an honor to be invited to play in the Big 30
game.”
He loves to hit and has been playing football since he was six
years old. Woodworking, snowboarding and baseball are among his
hobbies. The Carolina Panthers are his favorite team and John Lynch
his favorite player.
Durow, 5-11, 190 pounds, was a fullback and outside linebacker.
He will major in business management at an as yet undecided
college.
Durow is an Olean Times Herald Big 30 All-star, New York State
Championship MVP, Western New York unsung player of the year and
Jamestown (N.Y.) Post Journal Player of the Week.
In wrestling he was First-Team Division III in 2004 and 2005, a
Second-Team Division 9 All-Star in 2004 and First-Team Division 9
All-star in 2005.
He wants to play in the Raabe Classic because “my uncle and
brother have played in the game and it’s always been a dream of
mine to one day play in the Big 30 Don Raabe Charities
Classic.”
Winning the 2005 Class D New York State Championship was
definitely his biggest thrill. His hobbies include running a maple
syrup business, skiing, playing sports and following professional
sporting events. The Buffalo Bills are his favorite team and Willis
McGahee his favorite player.
This year’s game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 5 at Bradford
High’s Parkway Field.
