It was a lopsided victory that even Pennsylvania head coach Jim
Penley didn’t expect.

“New York is a phenomenal team, so I had no idea that we would
win like this,” Penley admitted shortly after his all-star team had
put a 40-20 victory in the book Saturday night at Bradford High
School’s Parkway Field.

“There is just no way that I would think we would do what we
did,” he added, shaking his head.

What the Pennsylvania all-stars did was shut down a New York
team that boasted members from an unbeaten state championship team
(Randolph) as well as a solid corps of players who complimented
that group.

Altogether it appeared the Empire State team would bring to an
end Pennsy’s run of two straight victories in the annual Don Raabe
Charities Classic.

However, the Keystone State’s defense stepped up early and often
to make certain that New York’s offense never got on track, while
the Pennsy offense put together a pair of scoring bursts – one in
each half.

“We dominated,” Penley continued. “Our guys were ready to play
and our defense came up huge right on their (New York) first drive
when we held them after our short punt.

“This game’s rules are set up to allow the offense to have a big
game, but our defense played phenomenal and gave us the energy we
needed in the second half.”

Once Pennsylvania’s offense did get going, it put 21 points on
the board in the first 30 minutes of action, 14 of which came in
the final 1:47. The defense played a key role in two of the
touchdowns with a fumble recovery and Vince Kinniburgh’s
(Smethport) second interception of the half.

In the third quarter New York struck quickly, putting a pair of
touchdowns on the board in a span of five minutes to make the score
21-12 at the end of three quarters.

Big defensive plays by Josh Holleran (Bradford) and Kinniburgh
prevented the visitors from scoring sooner, which could have
allowed them more time in the period to get their hands on the
ball.

“Our guys really didn’t have a letdown in the second half,”
Penley observed. “It was more like they let a couple of calls
bother them. We lost our cool, made a couple of mistakes and New
York got the two touchdowns.

“We told our kids they had to settle down and just play the
game,” he added.

Pennsylvania did settle down – in the New York end zone.

In the final 15 minutes of play, the hosts added three more
scores to its total already on the board putting the game out of
reach.

The first touchdown came on the first play of the fourth period
and 4 1/2 minutes later Pennsy was in the New York end zone again
to push its lead to 34-12. The hosts capped their scoring with an
option pass that went for six, and brought some strong reactions
over whether or not the score was being run up.

Penley defended the play.

“They (New York) were really playing the run hard and I made the
call,” he pointed out. “They almost made a big defensive stop on
that play, but it turned out to be a score for us.

“They had scored two quick touchdowns to start the second half
and showed they had the ability to score. There was still quite a
bit of time left in the game and I just wanted to make certain that
we didn’t give up the win.

“All of our kids played great. We had goals during practice and
told them what we expected. Guys stepped up and took over
leadership roles. During the game they were coming to the sideline
and telling us coaches what New York was doing and what they
thought would work against it.”

The win by Pennsylvania tightened the overall win-loss gap
between the two teams. New York still leads the series, 17-14
(there have been two ties), but momentum seems to have swung in
Pennsy’s favor and the team will be looking for its fourth straight
victory when Game 34 rolls around in 2007.