The Keystone State re-evens
Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic series
with first win in four years
By HUNTER O. LYLE
BRADFORD, PA – Just before kickoff, Team Pennsylvania had a lot riding on their shoulders.
Despite playing in their home state, they entered the 53rd Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic as the away team, swept up in an Empire State wave that had seen PA leave the field in defeat for each of the previous three years. For the first time in the events history, Pennsylvania was now behind in the season series, and their current roster, which had suffered fluctuations and was led up by a first-time head coach, stared across the gridiron at a fully-intact New York squad with a seasoned Big 30 shotcaller.
Nevertheless, with just over two minutes to go, they were inches from summiting the mountain. Leading by eight, all they needed to do was stifle New York a few more times. “One more stop” was the anthem on the sidelines.
Swatting, smothering and stumping New York’s desperate attempts to find a way down field, victory rang out in the form of eruptions from the grandstands, a flood onto the field and, of course, a Gatorade bath.
“It means everything to me for the kids. For as hard as they worked the last two weeks and all the trials and tribulations that we dealt with leading up to this, everybody stepped up and made this happen,” said Pennsylvania head coach Ryan Yingling, who has both played in and helped coach the annual all-star game as an assistant in year’s past. “Coming into this game, (New York) thought we were behind because of the roster we had, but we had the exact roster we needed. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Similar to last year’s contest, the action started immediately. However, while 2025’s rendition featured a quick start from New York on route to a 56-0 blowout win, 2026 saw the Keystone State take the first jab. To open the game, a botched New York onside kick went well shy of enemy territory. Bouncing just a few feet from the tee, Pennsylvania’s Landon Cook (St. Marys) quickly scooped up the ball and brought it back for the first touchdown of the night, just five seconds into play.
Immediately at a disadvantage, New York went to the ‘Olean Connection’ for a response. With Joe Mest starting under center, he repeatedly handed the ball off to his Huskies teammate, Domonick Hirliman, who racked up 36 yards in three consecutive carries. Opening the air game with a few early tosses to Peyton Bradley (Salamanca), New York started crawling up the field, however, their efforts were ultimately halted just 16 yards from the endzone.
Taking back over, Pennsylvania took the leash off their main weapon: Frankie Smith (Kane). Using speed to reach the outside or strength to punch holes through the middle, Smith carried his team down the field, grabbing 51 yards PA’s first drive of the night. Capping off the run with a 18-yard touchdown from Logan Kohler (Bradford), the Keystone State had quickly amassed a lead.
“I told the kids in the locker room, ‘momentum has to live on our sidelines for us to win this football game,’” said Yingling. “(The two early scores) were exactly what we needed. We were surprised that they handed us that one early one, but we’ll take it.”
New York, however, was not bankrupt of momentum themselves. Rotating in Carter Copazzi (Gowanda) at quarterback, the Empire State’s offense quickly became dominated by an aerial assault downrange. Targeting the full scope of their receivers, they marched back through the redzone, where a 10-yard scramble from Copazzi put them on the board.
Recovering a PA fumble with 7.6 seconds left, New York ended the first quarter with an acrobatic reception from Bradley, who rose up above a defender to give the team real estate on Pennsylvania’s five-yard line. Three plays later, the Empire State took the lead at 13-12 – PA missed a PAT and 2-point conversion, NY whiffed on their own first PAT attempt.
“I think a lot of (our early comeback) I’ll put on the kids. They’ve very even keel,” said New York head coach Jake Burkholder, who coaches for Southwestern/Frewsburg during the fall. “We were frustrated but wanted to fix it, wanted to find a way to claw back in and make something happen. Our quarterbacks are very mellow, they don’t get flustered and defensively, we just had some kids who wanted to go out and hit.”
Through the final 14 minutes of the first half, the two teams traded scores. Keeping with their footspeed, Pennsylvania leaned on Smith, Kohler and their mobile quarterback Shane Magee (Otto-Eldred) to move the chains, while New York continued to put passes in orbit, chunking out large swaths of yardage and evening the game at 20 heading into the intermission.
Returning to the field, the Big 30 title was still up for grabs. The rock fight could only last so long. Something had to give, and what it ended up being, was New York’s line.
With Copazzi taking over the offense at the start of the third, pressure came quickly. Opening with a tackle in the backfield, Pennsylvania immediately began tightening the screws as they bore holes in the trenches and smothered receivers in the secondary, ultimately forcing the first three-and-out of the game and New York’s first punt.
Although the Empire State returned to favor, not necessarily in a three-and-out but forcing PA into a fourth-and-32, a costly interception on their next possession– caught by Smith – queued up Pennsylvania once again.
“At halftime, our defensive coaches made adjustments. We drew up a different defensive plan on how we were going to attack and what (New York) was doing to us and what was hurting us,” said Yingling. “We just tried to give them a couple different looks to disguise some of our coverages and the guys pulled it off. They made it work.”
Starting from New York’s 16-yard-line, it took just 38 seconds for PA to once again break the plane and pull ahead again. After a five-yard carry into the endzone from Cook, Smith punched in a successful 2-point-conversion to go up 28-20.
New York’s next drive emptied the tanks. Utilizing a cast of Jake Ziegler (Portville) on the ground and Bradley through the air, they slowly crept their way down field once more. However, reaching the redzone for the seventh time of the night, they came up empty once again, suffering a tackle-for-loss and three consecutive incomplete passes.
Feeling ripples of a win reverberating through their sidelines, Pennsylvania began shoring up their game. Methodically pounding the ball on the ground, the clock continued to tick, watching them as PA’s 13-snap drive carried them down to New York’s five-yard-line. Forced into a fourth-and-five, PA elected to seal the game with a field goal. Up by eight, all New York could do was tie. Three more points would put a ribbon on the night for good.
Wide right.
Pennsylvania’s defense would have to be the closers. At first, New York found a foothold, cashing in on a quick pass to Bradley and a scramble from Mest for a first down. But then, they met a brick wall. Between PA’s bend-don’t-break Red Curtain, and a couple of self-inflicted penalties, New York’s comeback never materialized, being forced off the field far from the endzone. Three quick kneels later and Pennsylvania had ended the streak, supplanting themselves back atop the Big 30 throne.
Cook led all scorers with three touchdowns in the win, followed by Kohler with one. Frankie Smith came away with one interception. For New York, Capozzi, Mest and Bradley all scored once, while Camryn Slade (Gowanda) and Demetrious Young (Portville) both recovered fumbles.
Officially, the All-Time Big 30 series is now knotted at 25-25-3, with the bragging rights staying below the border for the next 365 days. But for Yingling, who personally boasts a 2-0-1 record in his appearances, he’s thinking this win could be something that will turn a corner for Pennsylvania.
“Coming into this, we got asked (about the all-time series) quite a bit and what’s funny is that when Smethport coached this back in 2016, we were the away team, got a win back, got back on the home stands and PA ripped off four or five years worth of wins,” said Yingling, who coaches for Smethport. “We’re just hoping that the future PA teams can follow suit. We got them back on the homeside.”
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