Wide receiver Kyle Mahoney caught two touchdowns passes and
threw for another as Pennsylvania survived a penalty flag barrage
in a 40-20 victory over New York in the 33rd Don Raabe Big 30
Charities All-Star Classic football game at Parkway Field on
Saturday.
It looked like June 14 (Flag Day) revisited as the officiating
crew probably needed ice for their throwing arms after tossing a
record-setting 24 combined flags for another record 217 total
yards. The combatants were equally guilty as New York amassed 12
infractions for 103 yards, while Pennsy accumulated a dozen for 114
yards, including four unsportsmanlike penalties with a
disqualification.
Pennsylvania received the opening kickoff and earned a first
down on an 11-yard run by David Babcock (Coudersport), but New York
took over on the PA 42 following a shanked minus three-yard
punt.
After two penalties for each team, the Empire Staters finally
got off a successful snap as Joe Holcomb (Portville) carried seven
yards down to the PA 25. The scoring threat ended at the 27 when
Adam Handley (Ridgway) registered a tackle for a four-yard loss on
third down and then Josh Holleran (Bradford) broke up a pass on
fourth-and-10.
Pennsy couldn’t move the chains once again but got a break at
the New York 30 when the pigskin glanced off the punt returner and
into the hands of Willie Bova (Port Allegany).
Babcock ran for 11 yards and quarterback Lucas Wendel (St.
Marys) scampered for eight more to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by
Anthony Mastrogiacomo (Elk County Catholic). Caleb Morris
(Coudersport) booted the extra point and it was 7-0 Pennsy with
5:19 left in the opening period.
New York then marched from its own 32 to the enemy 43, but Tyler
Dunne (Ellicottville) was intercepted by Vince Kinniburgh
(Smethport) at the 42 and returned it to the New York 43.
Pennsy was sitting pretty at the 15 following a 13-yard run by
Kyle Oakes (Kane) and a 15-yard penalty for a late hit. Three plays
later a 38-yard field goal attempt by Morris was blocked by Jarid
Lowe (Portville), who came storming up the middle untouched.
New York failed to advance the sticks and a 13-yard reversed
field run by Babcock gave Pennsy a first down at its own 44. On a
third-and-10 at the same yard line, Alex Woodhead (Portville)
stepped in front of a Wendel aerial at midfield and streaked to the
end zone, but a clip at the 32 brought the ball back to the PA
47.
A 9-yard run by Neil Fay (Olean) and a 15-yarder by Mandela Elom
(Ellicottville) gave New York consecutive first downs, but the
visitors came up empty when Jeff Durow’s (Randolph) 28-yard field
goal attempt sailed wide left.
Bova then engineered a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive that
chewed up five minutes on the clock. Bova hit Oakes for 10 yards,
Mahoney (Elk County Catholic) for 13 more and then rolled right at
the New York 47 and found a wide-open Cody Anderson (Port Allegany)
for the 47-yard score. Morris blasted the PAT toward the brand new
scoreboard and it was 14-0 with 1:45 left in the half.
A 15-yard middle screen from Trae Rogers (Randolph) to Durow put
New York at its own 47, but Kinniburgh pilfered his second
intercept of the contest as Pennsy set up shop at its own 47.
Two plays later from midfield, Wendel found his cousin Mahoney
at the New York 33. Mahoney, who was a guard on ECC’s Class A
championship basketball team, hauled in the pass and raced halfway
to Hershey with 26 seconds showing. Morris drilled the extra point
and it was 21-0 at the intermission.
As the teams returned to the field for the third quarter, the
Eisenhower coaching staff told their Pennsy squad, “We gotta bury
them (New York) right now.”
But New York showed the overflow crowd it wasn’t ready for the
graveyard with a 73-yard, 11-play sojourn that ended with a 3-yard
plunge up the gut by Durow. Durow’s PAT was wide left, but the
Empire Staters still had a pulse at 21-6 with 9:22 left in the
third.
On the next possession from its own 27, a 54-yard pass from
Dunne to Kevin Butler (Olean Walsh) placed New York at the Pennsy
19. Six plays later Dunne hit Dan Fabiny (Wellsville) on a 10-yard
slant and Fabinyfell across the goal line. Once again the PAT
attempt failed, but New York was back in the neighborhood at 21-12
with 4:03 remaining in the stanza.
The joy emanating from the visitors’ stands was short lived as
Pennsy drove from its own 33 and scored on the initial snap of the
fourth quarter on a 6-yard run by Oakes for a 27-12 advantage. The
highlight of the 11-play drive was a 22-yard hookup between Wendel
and Anderson.
New York then committed an error in judgment when a fake punt on
its own 28 went horribly wrong and Pennsy took over at the
aforementioned spot.
Anderson gained six yards for a first down at the 14 and then
Bova fired a seed to Mahoney for the touchdown. The extra point by
Morris was good and the rout was on at 34-12 with 10:23 left.
New York was then the beneficiary of two 15-yard penalties and
faced a fourth-and-4 at the 24, but Elom was tackled by the entire
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for a 3-yard loss.
With the fight apparently removed from the blue-jerseyed
defense, Pennsylvania marched to paydirt on a 23-yard run by
Mahoney, a 14-yard burst by Babcock and the culminating 34-yard
halfback pass from Mahoney to Shad Boschert (St. Marys). Morris
couldn’t find the uprights on the ensuing point after, but it
mattered not as the lead had mushroomed to 40-12 at the 7:23
juncture.
New York did demonstrate some moxie with a 19-play, 78-yard
crusade that was finalized with a 1-yard plunge from Holcomb with
28 ticks remaining.
Holcomb also carried in the two-pointer for the final 20-point
margin.
Bova took a game-ending knee as Pennsylvania registered its
third straight win to cut the all-time deficit to 17-14-2.
Pennsy outgained New York 410-376, although the Empire boys
owned a 245-189 advantage on the ground.
Bova was 9-for-10 passing for 92 yards and two TDs, Wendel was
4-for-5 for 95 yards and a score, Mahoney caught five passes for 99
yards and Babcock rushed 13 times for 73 yards for Pennsylvania.
Fay had 88 yards on the ground and Holcomb added 73 for New
York.
