By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
BROCKWAY, PA – Dominating on both sides of the Frank Varischetti All-Star game gridiron, the South team pulled off a silencing 45-6 victory as they finally evened out the tradition’s history.
Ten years ago, the Frank Varischetti Foundation, a philanthropic organization based out of Brockway, PA, began their own senior All-Star football game as a way to help raise funds for scholarships for local athletes. In its early years, the game was controlled by the North, formerly the Allegheny Mountain League, as they took five yearly wins to the South’s, formerly the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference, two (this year the two District 9 conferences that included 22 schools merged as one to become the District 9 Central League.)
However, as of late, the South has begun to rise. In 2023, the South took a closely fought 44-34 win over the North before ascending in 2024 with a 20-0 victory to bring the all-time wins to 5-4, still slightly in favor of the North.
After a few lightning delays, the North was finally set to kick off. Daring early, an onside kick would give them the ball just over midfield. However, with a porous offensive line, they were forced off the field in short order. They would ultimately return the favor, stopping the South’s drive with a big sack from Hunter Viglione (Ridgway), who set the red squad into a fourth-and-17 punt with 8:30 left on the clock.
Hunter Viglione grabs a handful of Jase Ferguson as he takes him to the ground for an early-game sack. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Thus would be the game in the first handful of possessions, incremental gains that met a wall sooner rather than later as neither team could find a first down. On the South’s third drive, however, they finally found their footing.
Starting on the North’s 42, quarterback Jase Ferguson (Central Clarion) opened the possession with a 14-yard scramble. Eyeing the endzone just 28 yards away, Ferguson then threw a deep bomb to his Central Clarion teammate Jesse Siwiecki, who came down in the endzone, ball in hand. Breaking the ice, the floodgates opened. Continuously stunting the North, who looked for answers both on the ground and through the air to no avail, the South tore through the defense as they scored on their next three drives.
Jase Ferguson streams into the endzone during the South’s dominating win over the North on Friday. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
“I think, at the beginning, those nerves showed up. These guys haven’t played in quite a while, but as soon as they got out of that, they just started to play football,” said South head coach Brandon Snyder, who coaches at Punxsutawney. “When you have athletes as great as these guys are, that’s what happens. It snowballs.”
Meanwhile, the North struggled with cohesion. Between bad snaps, self-inflicted penalties and poor play-clock management, they crossed into enemy territory on just two occasions through the first quarter and a half. Their first half troubles were on full display on their final drive, when, despite getting 30-yards on back-to-back unsportsmanlike penalties on the South, they were battered off the field with a massive sack with just two seconds left on the clock.
Coming into the second half down 29-0, it at first looked as though the North had finally recollected themselves. Taking their first snap on their own 27-yard line, they would find their most successful drive yet with two big gains through the air. Quarterback Talan Reese (Bradford) connected with Blake Pisarcik (Brockway) on a second-and-11 for a 16-yard gain before adding 29 more throwing yards with a pass to Pisarcik again that put them within 30 yards of the endzone.
However, their drive quickly fell apart. Going to the run game, they first lost four yards on a hit behind the line before a sack from Troy Nagel (Karns City) took away another four and back-to-back false starts. Yet another sack set the North up for an impossible fourth-and-38. At this point too far for even a field goal, the North ultimately had to punt the ball away empty handed.
Although they would be stopped for the first time since their initial score immediately after, albeit coming away with three points, the South’s 32-point margin on the scoreboard initiated the running clock mercy rule with 2:57 remaining in the third. However, that wouldn’t stop them from continuously running up the score as they would finish the game out with two more touchdowns.
In the meantime, the listless North team would finally add to their side of the scoreboard early in the fourth. Starting on their own 38, they slowly crept up the field before another reception from Pisarcik put them in the red zone. This time, they would finish the drive with a 17-yard pass to Koby Shepard (Cameron County), breaking the shutout.
Quarterback Talan Reese narrowly gets off a pass before taking a hit during the Varischetti All-Star game on Friday. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
With one sidelines rejoicing and the other shaking their heads, the disparity of competition came to a close. After trailing early in the annual game’s history, the South had steamrolled back to even it at 5-5 as they tightened their grip over Frank Varischetti Field.
“It’s a nice feeling. We have a lot of good schools in the south, a lot of good schools in the north,” said Snyder. “Really, it’s just good the way the Varischetti guys put this on, having everybody around from District 9. To have a game just for these guys, just one more to get into, is great.”
