Through three quarters of the 46th annual Big 30 Charities Classic, it seemed Pennsylvania was destined to win its fourth straight matchup against New York.
The Keystone State was leading 27-6 entering the game’s final 15 minutes and was poised to tie the all-star football series for the first time since the game’s inception.
But New York, led by Pioneer quarterback Nick Rinker, posted 21 unanswered points across the game’s final quarter to salvage a 27-27 tie and maintain the Empire State’s series lead at 22-21-3.
“I feel like that was all on us. We had that lead, and we sat on it and lost it. There’s nobody to blame but ourselves,” Pennsylvania head coach Jeff Puglio, of Bradford, said. “We kind of feel like we lost because of the lead we blew… it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. But it was great to be a part of (the Charities Classic), and it’s something I would never turn down in the future.”
Pennsylvania jumped out to a 20-6 lead by halftime, keyed by a rushing attack that gashed New York for 225 yards on 35 carries.
Bradford’s Donny Pattison, who finished with 75 yards on 12 carries, sprinted for a 12-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and Coudersport’s Mason Klesa found Ridgway’s Issac Schloder for a six-yard touchdown pass with just 31.9 seconds left in the first half. In addition, Smethport’s Noah Costa went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts.
Pennsy was leading the Empire State in total offense to that point 243-113.
Meanwhile, defensively, Pennsylvania had given up just two first downs the entire first half, and aside from one mistake — a 77-yard touchdown pass from Rinker to Alex Card — played nearly flawless football.
The Keystone defense continued to stymie the Empire State late into the third quarter, as New York went three-and-out on its opening possession of the second half, and then Pennsylvania made a crucial goal line stand on the next drive.
On fourth and goal from the eight, New York quarterback Zariah Armstrong, of Salamanca, couldn’t find an open receiver and took off running. He made it to the three with just Otto-Eldred’s Chris Connelly to beat.
But Connelly came up big with an open field tackle to save a touchdown and give Pennsy the ball back. The former Terror standout recovered a fumble in the first half that set up the first PA touchdown, as well.
His stop set up a 97-yard scoring drive for PA, finished off by a 65-yard touchdown run by Ridgway’s Cole Secco on a counter play that Puglio felt would be successful.
“(New York was) overpursuing our motions, so we knew we could hit it,” Puglio said. “Cole made a perfect cut and a perfect read, found a seam and showed his wheels.”
Secco finished the game with 124 yards on eight carries. His lone touchdown extended the Pennsy lead to 27-6 with 2:26 left in the third quarter.
But that was it for Pennsylvania the rest of the night. New York circled the wagons behind Rinker’s three touchdowns to come away with a 27-27 draw. Rinker played the entirety of the quarter after Armstrong was injured on his scramble at the goal line.
“Nick showed a lot of heart tonight,” New York head coach Jehuu Caulcrick, of Southwestern, said. “He had a belief in himself and that belief in his teammates, and he went out there and proved it.”
The first of Rinker’s scores came on a two-yard run with 13:11 left in the game to pull New York to within 27-12. After Pennsylvania turned the ball over when its punter bobbled the long snap, New York’s opportunistic offense struck on its first play from scrimmage — a 29-yard touchdown pass from Rinker to Cuba-Rushford’s DeAndre Ahrens that drew the Empire State to within one score of PA at 27-19.
It seemed as though Pennsylvania was going to be able to stop the bleeding, as it later forced and recovered a fumble. St. Marys’ Devin McGrath made the recovery.
However, a sideline violation penalty on PA negated the turnover, and New York made good on its second chance. Rinker found Ahrens for their second touchdown connection of the night, this time from 25 yards out.
On the subsequent two-point conversion, New York successfully ran a wide receiver reverse pass from Salamanca’s Ira John to Allegany-Limestone’s Connor Parsons to tie the game at 27.
That flag, and penalties in general, are what Puglio feels made the most difference in the game. Pennsy was flagged 13 times for 120 yards, while New York was penalized nine times for 97 yards.
“Each time we started to move the ball and get some momentum, a penalty would bring us right back. We stalled ourselves,” Puglio said.
Both teams each missed opportunities to break the deadlock down the stretch.
Pennsylvania dropped a would-be touchdown pass and turned it over twice between punts, while New York missed a 47-yard field goal as time expired and also turned the ball over on downs on a fake field goal attempt with 3:38 to go.
Despite coming away with just a tie, Rinker felt satisfied with protecting the New York series lead.
“It means everything,” he said. “I was glad to represent New York and my town and my city. I’m very passionate about all that, so it feels good.”
AT BRADFORD
BY QUARTERS
New York 0 6 0 21—27
Pennsylvania 10 10 7 0—27
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: New York: 13, Pennsylvania: 18; Rushes/Yards Rushing: NY: 43-132, PA: 56-353; Yards Passing: NY: 190, PA 20; Comp-Att-Int: NY: 8-22-0, Home: 7-16-1; Penalties: NY: 9-97, PA: 13-120; Fumbles-Lost: NY: 3-2, PA: 4-2; Total Yards: NY: 322, PA: 373 Offensive Plays: NY: 65, PA: 72
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: NY: Nick Rinker 6-17-181-3, Zariah Armstrong 2-5-9; PA: Nate Blauser 3-9-9, Mason Klesa 4-7-11-1-1
Rushing: NY: Alex Weakfall 4-12, Jake Peters 11-45, Deter Miinte 3-4, Ira John 5-15, Armstrong 8-22, Rinker 11-43-1, Conner Golley 1 (-9) ; PA: Marvin Bryant 11-46, Donny Pattison 12-75-1, Stephen Kelly 7-38, Cole Secco 8-124-1, Ethan Chambers 8-51, Klesa 3-33, Blauser 4 (-14)
Receiving: NY: Nolan Brink 1-3, Alex Card 3-122-1, Jake Peters 1-4, Brian Wittmeyer 1-5, DeAndre Ahrens 2-54-2 ; PA: Devin McMeans 3-3, Secco 1-16, Issac Schloder 2 (-1)-1
Scoring summary
First quarter
PA: Noah Costa, 36-yard field goal, 10:41
PA: Donny Pattison, 12-yard run (Costa PAT), 7:14
Second quarter
PA: Costa, 26-yard field goal, 13:26
NY: Alex Card, 77-yard pass from Nick Rinker (PAT failed), 5:05
PA: Issac Schloder, 6-yard pass from Mason Klesa (Costa PAT), 31.9
Third quarter
PA: Cole Secco, 65-yard run (Costa PAT), 2:26
Fourth quarter
NY: Rinker, 2-yard run (2-pt conversion failed), 13:11
NY: DeAndre Ahrens, 29-yard pass from Rinker (Conner Golley PAT), 11:04
NY: Ahrens, 25-yard pass from Rinker (Ira John pass to Connor Parsons good), 4:31
