The Big 33 Football Classic was played on Sunday, May 28th at Bishop McDevitt‘s Rocco Ortenzio Stadium in the Harrisburg area, and it was a thriller, with PA pulling out a come-from-behind victory in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.
Pennsylvania jumped out to an early lead. After a 52- yard TD run from Jahmil Perryman and a Ben Sosnowski 43- yard field goal, PA led 10-0. However, in the second quarter Team Maryland took the fight to PA with impressive offensive play and great defensive stands in the first half. Bryce Cox ran one in from 15 yards out and the defense controlled much of the second quarter. However, Sincere Smith fielded a Maryland punt and ran it into the end zone 66 yards out., giving PA a 17-7 lead. The Maryland offense attempted to answer, but an excellent scoring opportunity died due to a PA interception in the end zone. However, PA muffed a punt and gave the ball and a short field back to Team Maryland, who pulled within 3 points due to a 2-yard touchdown run by Bryce Cox
After the half, it was a very even game with neither side really taking control. Pa took a 24-14 lead after a huge Kenny Johnson catch and a Perryman 2-yard run. Maryland showed true resolve and answered with a 10-yard touchdown run from Milford Mill’s Sean Williams, Jr, but missed the extra point, and the score sat at 24-20. Then, Maryland took the lead with just over 4 minutes to play on another 10-yard run by Williams. With the score 27-24, Team Pennsylvania’s Johnson made another huge play by rambling into the end zone after a long run from scrimmage, but the touchdown was called back because of an illegal crack-back block. However, Upper-Dublin’s Colin O’Sullivan threw up a long pass that was hauled in by Johnson to put PA back in the lead 31-27.
While Team Maryland was not victorious, our team really played well under the excellent leadership of head coach Dameon Powell (CH Flowers) and assistants Natalie Mitchell(CH Flowers), Steve Crounse (Patuxent), Kurt Stein (Oakdale), Alec Lemon (Glen Burnie), Jack Walsh (Arundel), Frederick Groves (CH Flowers), Troy Cook (CH Flowers), Josh Klotz (Damascus), Bucky Clipper (Northwest), and Josh Ward (Calvert Hall College). Coach Powell and his staff did an excellent job of preparing Team Maryland and putting together great game plan, and even though Team Maryland came up a bit short, our boys played with pride and gave PA all that they could handle.
