Practice is over. Now it’s time to play some football!
Pennsylvania’s and New York’s Don Raabe Charities Classic
all-star football teams are ready to mix it up on the field.
For the past two weeks they’ve been politely pounding on their
fellow teammates, but tonight they can get serious about hitting
because it will be against the guys in the other jerseys.
That’s the story as both teams settle in for the 33rd annual
renewal of the game at Bradford High’s Parkway Field. Kickoff is
scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“It’s been fun,” Pennsy coach Jim Penley commented recently.
“We’ve spent a lot of time going against each other and pushing
each other around.”
Now his players will get to push on people when it really means
something.
“The kids have worked hard. We’ve spent time just running
play-after-play. We would get in 50-60 plays during a 45-minute
time period. The kids are in good shape.”
Pennsylvania will be looking for its third win in a row tonight.
The team won last year 49-22 and 27-12 in 2004. If successful, it
will match the team’s longest unblemished win streak which came in
Games 8, 9 and 10. The years of those contests were 1981 (19-0),
1982 (17-6) and 1983 (16-14).
The Keystone State team also ran off three wins from 1994
through 1997, but during that span there was a tie in 1996.
New York boasts the longest win streak, the visitors taking the
first five games of the series.
The Empire State squad would like nothing more than to end
Pennsylvania’s win streak which has closed the overall gap between
the two states to just four games.
New York leads in the 32-game series 17-13 in the wins and
losses columns. The teams have walked off the field twice with the
score tied.
One of the things that New York may have going for it is team
speed. It’s impressed head coach Glenn Mountain and his staff the
past two weeks.
“I’ve really noticed a difference in the speed of our practices
compared with your regular teams,” Mountain admitted.
He was also pleased with his team’s overall physical condition
coming into practice.
“A lot of the kids have kept in shape. They’re all athletes and
they play a lot more than just football. Kids work out more and
more today.”
The series between the two groups has already raised more than
$1,000,000 for charity to realize the dream of the late Don Raabe
who was the founder of the contest.
A solid corp of friends and believers in the game have kept it
going since Raabe’s death. They haven’t missed a step in keeping
the dollars coming in for deserving individuals, groups and
organizations. In recent years the Charities Classic committee has
also begun giving away scholarships to students within the seven
county (5 Pennsylvania, 2 New York) area.
