By SPENCER BATES
BRADFORD, PA — The 2025 Big 30 Charities Classic was historic.
Not just for the eye-widening 56-0 scoreline that went in favor of New York’s squad, but for what that result meant in the grand scheme of things.
The win tied the all-time series record between New York and Pennsylvania — a massive moment for an event that started back in 1974.
Now, in search of a possible third consecutive victory and control over the series, the players of this year’s Empire State squad are putting their differences aside in favor of that shared goal.
The honor of coaching New York in this year’s game went to Southwestern/Frewsburg head coach Jake Burkholder. This will be Burkholder’s third overall time on the sidelines for the Charities Classic and his second stint as head coach. But according to him, the allure hasn’t faded one bit.
“It’s still an awesome opportunity,” Burkholder said. “It’s a whole new set of kids, you got a whole different group of personalities, and there’s not many high school games in this area that you’re gonna play in front of three, four, 5,000 people either. That’s a big draw as well.”
Locally, within New York’s squad this year is a team-high eight players from the combined Portville/Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar-Richburg. Olean has the second-most representatives with six suiting up while Salamanca has one.
Repping P/C-R/B-R will be Demetrious Young (FB/TE/DE), Conner Roulo (K), Kingston Loucks (WR/CB/S), Adam Roe (WR/TE/S), Jake Zeigler (RB/DE), Ty Kosinski (G/C/DT), Landon Hendryx (G/DE) and Ian Chamberlain (T/DT).
Olean will be represented by Joe Mest (QB/S), Mykel Rivera (WR/S/OLB), Domonick Hirliman (RB/CB), Caine DeGolier (TE/OLB), Calvin Williams (T/DT) and Mike Ellman (C).
Payton Bradley (QB/TE/S/OLB) is the lone member of the Warriors on this year’s team.
That, in and of itself, is what makes the Classic special to so many — the opportunity to play alongside quality talent that, for the last number of years, has been the enemy.
“It’s cool playing alongside guys you’ve played against,” Mest said. “Coming to the game growing up, seeing seniors that you played with play in this game in past years, yeah it means a lot.”
Salamanca’s Bradley agreed, reflecting on the fact that while the first few days are a bit awkward, the opportunity to now come together as a collective is incredible.
“It’s really special, just being on a team like this, there’s so much talent,” Bradley said. “It’s really fun to go out there and represent your state more so than just yourself. So I think it’s a good opportunity to see some good football on both sides and I’m excited for it.
“You get to see a bunch of guys that you’ve been on the other side of the ball of and just kind of become friends instead of rivals. Sometimes, you go up to them, and it’s kind of like, ‘I don’t know if I should sit by you,’ but I think there’s a lot of good friendships you can make that will last past this game.”
But where there are benefits to having such a surplus of talent at his disposal, the biggest challenge facing Burkholder and his staff is getting them all on the same page in such a short amount of time.
The key: simplifying the system.
Burkholder, thinking back on his prior year as New York’s head coach, admitted that is an area he and his staff could have done better in. This year, they are learning from that mistake.
“I think the first time it was kind of like, ‘here’s this whole playbook,’” Burkholder said. “We just gotta find what these guys are good at and just kind of fit things to them to make us as successful as possible. Play fast and make it easy for them.
“I think the biggest thing is just the language and the verbiage. A lot of these teams (that these players come from) do the same things. They just call it something different. So, just figuring out the verbiage, and as long as the quarterbacks get it, these guys pick it up really, really fast and we can usually get everybody pointed in the right direction.”
Southwestern/Frewsburg head coach Jake Burkholder (second from right) and his staff have been chosen to lead New York in this year’s Big 30 Charities Classic. (Spencer Bates)
Fortunately, this year he has the benefit of having three of his own Southwestern/Frewsburg players — George Marshall (TE/RB/OLB), Carson Couchenour (C/G/DT/DE) and Calvin Salisbury (G/T/DT) — that will play a pivotal role in helping translate the system.
“We got two on the offensive line and I think that’s just huge for being able to communicate,” Burkholder said. “Communication is huge in general, but on the offensive line, it’s big. Then defensively, they’ll just be helping with some coverages and the verbiage and that sort of stuff. I mean, they’re going to listen to each other more than they listen to coaches. So it always helps to have a couple guys that know what’s going on that can help get that information out.”
But above all else, what Burkholder wants his players to grasp onto is the idea that this is a special moment in their careers. Whether it is the final time they play a snap of organized football, or if it’s just another step before playing at the collegiate level, the memories of the night will stick with them.
“I know the game itself brings a lot to the communities and there’s the charity aspect of it, which is awesome, but I think it’s just a great opportunity because, for a lot of these guys, this is probably the last time they’re ever going to play football,” Burkholder said.
“We got eight practices, that goes quick. So, I’m just telling them to take advantage of it, have fun, really just give it everything they got … and build some friendships that’ll last forever.”
Burkholder and his squad will hope those memories come with a positive ending, one in which they seize control of the all-time series with a third consecutive win. New York will kick off against its Pennsylvania counterparts on Aug. 1 at 4 p.m. at Bradford High School.
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