Saturday’s face-off at Parkway Field for the 52nd Annual Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic  played under sunny skies, but a series of lost chances put a dark cloud over the PA squad. The team largely failed to get within the NY 30 yard line, with one exception that led to a turnover on downs. This allowed NY to take home a 56-0 victory.

“There were several missed opportunities, especially early on. We had a fourth and short, we put our heavy package in for, and we thought we could get the yard to get that first down to keep the early drive going. We weren’t able to do so,” said PA Coach Troy Cook. “We had another possession soon after where we had a third down and a play we ran several times in practice, thinking we could get an opening there. We had a dropped pass and ended up punting on that drive. There were a series of missteps in that regard.”

PA’s Owen Rounsville (7, Smethport) tackles NY’s Bretton Blecha (5, Franklinville / Ellicottville) during the 52nd Annual Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic Saturday.

Era photo by Wade Aiken

NY found two scoring opportunities in the first quarter; the first on a four-play, 63-yard drive with Isaac Towne ending up in the endzone following a four-yard run. The second saw Maddox Isaac push into the endzone from two yards out following a six-play, 75-yard drive. Logan Fleischman was successful for both extra point kicks, giving NY a 14-0 lead.

For PA, the fight continued in the second quarter, with no points added to the board.

“Another drive in the first half where we had a play called we thought would be very successful, that we ran in practice several times. Unfortunately, we had a low snap, the quarterback had to corral it and take off and get as many yards as we could,” Cook added.

PA’s Rocco Delhunty (Ridgway) bulls his way to a good gain Saturday during the Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic at Parkway Field in Bradford.

Era Photo by Wade Aiken

“There were a series of situations like that, and we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. When you are playing against a good coaching staff and talented team, things can get out of hand quickly, and it definitely did.”

NY’s second-quarter scoring came from Bretton Blecha pulling in a 49-yard pass from Isaac and a successful kick from Fleischman; a nine-yard run from Towne and Fleischman again finding the uprights and a 37-yard pass pulled in by Connor Braley followed by a pass from Cory Holleran to Kyle Lecceardone to make the score 36-0 at the half.

NY’s second half scoring included a safety as the PA quarterback stepped out of bounds in the endzone and a successful 35-yard kick by Fleischman in the third quarter, boosting the lead to 41-0.

The fourth quarter saw Domanik Clark scramble 20-yards and Gavin Straub successfully put one between the uprights to make the score 48-0 and Braley to successfully reach the endzone on a 12-yard run, followed by a scramble by Holleran into the endzone, finalizing the score at 56-0.

Looking back on the overall picture, Cook had praise for PA players on both offense and defense.

“There were a few bright spots. On the offensive side, Rocco (Delhunty) was doing everything he could, dragging tacklers with him, things like that. Unfortunately we couldn’t create much space for him,” Cook said. “As the game went on, they were doing pretty well defending against the run game.

“Davey Schenfield played a good game at wide receiver; he was able to win his matchup and find open spots in the defense,” he stated. “Also Qbwise: all things considered, we had a few interceptions but they were doing the best they could with the looks we were getting.”

“Overall, there were too many self-inflicted wounds to get anything going on the offensive side of things,” Cook concluded.

“Defensively, I know the score looked bad but that’s not quite indicative of the defense. They were able to force multiple turnovers. The Offense kept putting the Defense in bad situations,” Cook said. “(NY) hit us for a couple long passes over the top, but expected that might happen. They had a lot of height at wide receiver, there was not a lot of height at defensive back (for PA).

“They did a good job against the run game and rallying to the ball. They were efficient tacklers. Landen Farren from Cameron County continued to battle all game; he gave everything he had for all four quarters. Evan Whitmore did a really good job. All things considered, he was a bit undersized at that position, and from a defensive tackle spot, we didn’t keep him as clean to get opportunities on more plays.”

Pennsylvania          0     0  0   0 –  0

New York               14 22    5 15 – 56

                                                PA          NY

First Downs                              12                21

Rushes-Yards                     28-61      38-340

Passing Yards                          116             116

Comp-Att-int                   20-36-2     9-12-0

Total Yards                              177            456

Fumbles-Lost                         0-0            3-3

Penalties-Yards                    8-67          9-80

Punts-Avg                             3-36                0

Total Plays                                64             50