This will officially be Chad Bartoszek’s fourth time on the sidelines for the Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic in one capacity or another.

He played in the 1999 game after a standout career as a tight end at Salamanca High School. Then, he assisted on the New York coaching staff in 2009 under then-Salamanca and Allegany-Limestone coaches Jason Marsh and Paul Furlong. In 2018, while at Franklinville/Ellicottville, he served as New York head coach for the first time in a 37-22 loss to Pennsylvania. Now, the Salamanca coach coming off a state championship game appearance, Bartoszek will take another crack at leading the state’s graduated football seniors in the historic rivalry.

But even in the years he’s not coached the game, you’ve probably seen Bartoszek in the stands watching New York and Pennsylvania. As a coach and fan of the game, Bartoszek’s goal is the same: to see a good product on the field.

That has led Bartoszek to revise the offensive approach he took in ‘18, scaling back the amount of complex teaching he tried to do last time.

“I WENT IN trying to teach our concepts, our passing concepts,” he remembered. “I do recall that trying to get that timing done in seven, eight days of good practice, it’s not possible. So this year, we focus more on the timing of specific routes and not full conceptual passing systems. So what are guys going to be good at, what are our strengths and what can we highlight and then hammer those.

“In our run game, we tend to be simple anyways at Salamanca. So that’s come along nicely. We’re just hammering it all to get different looks, different formations.”

Bartoszek even conferred with some former Charities Classic coaches, including Portville’s Josh Brooks, who led New York to its first win since 2015 last summer.

“Keep it simple, make sure that everybody knows their duties,” Bartoszek said. “I go to the game every year and you want to see a good product. You don’t necessarily have to have a great system, but watching-wise, you want to see good football. I just want to make sure our offense knows where to be, what to do, how to execute. Not some extravagant route tree that we’re not going to get to anyway. So that was the biggest takeaway from before.”

BARTOSZEK THINKS New York’s success last year started up front. In typical Portville fashion, New York ran the ball effectively and tackled soundly on defense.

“They out-physicaled PA last year and that was evident on both sides of the ball,” he said. “That’s a part of football that’s never going away. The teams that are physical and hitting up front and tackling soundly, you’re going to have success. So we’re emphasizing that. We’ve got the kids to be physical. We’re expecting to be physical. Just from an offensive standpoint, it’s just executing.”

In terms of personnel, Bartoszek has some familiar faces to work with, and some with familiarity of his staff’s concepts. Salamanca quarterback Maddox Isaac is not only playing for his high school coaches one more time, but throwing to teammate and fellow Big 30 All-Star Cory Holleran. Another QB-WR duo who both earned Big 30 honors in the fall, Franklinville/Ellicottville’s Isaac Towne and Bretton Blecha, came up in a system that still has “some lingering verbiage and offensive styles” Bartoszek’s staff used when he led the Titans.

‘They’re kind of a power spread team so some of the language and some of the offensive systems fit right in with what they’re doing,” Bartoszek said.

And New York’s top running backs — F/E’s Billy Slavinski, Randolph’s Connor Braley and Portville/Cuba-Rushford’s Breckham Hunt — come from power-run teams and have fit in nicely.

“So, guys who get it, they understand what we’re trying to put across,” Bartoszek said. “It took a day or two but it’s clicking well now.”

ANOTHER RANDOLPH playmaker, Domanik Clark, is listed at running back/wide receiver. Tight ends include Allegany-Limestone’s Gavin Straub and Cattaraugus-Little Valley’s Josiah Lenahan.

Offensive linemen include Shea Smith and Ryan Metzger (both from F/E), Noah Fuller and Chase Marshall (both from CLV), Kruz Coustenis (Salamanca), Noah Ochoa (Pioneer) and Nate Hahn (Randolph).

The only hang-up? Numbers. New York is spread a bit thin, “eight to ten” short of being able to go two-deep at every position between offense and defense. For instance, Portville/C-R star running back Maxx DeYoe is unable to play due to a recent surgery.

“There’s some positions that don’t have backups and we’re trying to find rotations,” Bartoszek said. “The Big 30 (Committee) has been working well with us to communicate how it’s going to go. Fortunately, we’re kind of both in the same situation. It would be difficult if they were in the mid-40s and we were in the mid-30s, but it seems like we’re both in the same position this year.”

Along with the schematic changes in his second go at the Big 30 game, Bartoszek is also reminding himself: have fun at these practices as summer starts to wind down.

“It’s an extra two weeks-plus of time, plus prep time, that it’s hard to get away from family. It’s hard to get away from your own high school team,” he said. “So there are some stresses that come with coaching the team, but I was going to make sure this year that I was really going to enjoy it and I have. We’ve got a great group. The coaching staff’s doing a heck of a job, the Big 30’s been accommodating. So I’m having fun with it. I’m excited to get to practice these days and get to that game and stay healthy.”