BROCKWAY — There will be at least one game of high school football in the area in 2020.
Senior all-stars from schools of the former Allegheny Mountain League and Keystone Shortway Athletic Conferences — now all part of District 9’s Large and Small School Divisions — will take the field one final time tonight in the fifth annual Frank Varischetti All-Star Football Game, to be held at Varischetti Field.
Kickoff is set for 7 o’clock.
“We feel blessed to just have an opportunity to play football,” said AML head coach Tony Gerg, also the head coach at Elk Catholic.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the game, which was postponed from its original date of June 26, will take place without spectators. Fans interested in following the action can watch a livestream of the game by MegaRock radio, WMKX FM 105.5 in Brookville. The station will air the stream on its Facebook page, found at MegaRockFMFan.
In addition, WDDH radio in Ridgway will broadcast the game on WKBI FM 93.9 and on Facebook Live on WDDH 97.5 The Hound.
“We must adhere to all the guidance and guidelines in effect in order to protect the health and safety of everyone involved,” game manager Nick Hoffman said in a press release. “Unfortunately, those guidelines require limiting attendance to pre-authorized individuals only: players, coaches, event staff and other essential game-related personnel. No one else can be admitted.”
The game will, however, continue its tradition of doling out $1,000 scholarships to 16 players. The scholarships are funded by the game’s official sponsors.
As for the football aspect, Gerg is pleased to report a good week of practice leading into tonight’s tilt.
“It’s been your typical week of football with special teams, defense and offense,” he said. “Certainly, any time you have experienced kids, teaching an offense gets easier, especially when you have a (Ridgway quarterback Paul) Gresco or (Bradford quarterback Caleb) Nuzzo.
“These kids have seen different offenses and they’re such well-schooled kids. They have football smarts, and it’s really fun to coach kids with football smarts.”
The AML’s full roster is: Derek Sunafrank and Caleb Nuzzo of Bradford; Jon Wood of Brockway; Caleb Rieder of Cameron County; Thomas Wilson of Coudersport; Leo Gregory, John Wittman, Jared Emmert and Stephen Bobby of Elk County Catholic; Jake Alcorn, Teddy Race, Aaron Hottel, Chris Stewart and Kevin Scharba of Kane; Cameron Magee and Colton Gietler of Otto-Eldred; Josh Rees, DJ Michelitsch and Eli Petruzzi of Port Allegany; Paul Gresco, Jake Wickett, Robert Briggs, Greg Simon, Matt Dush, Austin Green, Tyler Watts and Hayden Haupright of Ridgway; Caden Smead and Jacob Disshon of Sheffield and Bryent Johnson of Smethport.
Players were nominated and selected by votes of the head coaches of each of the schools in the former AML and KSAC.
“It’s a great group of kids, and I’m a better person for having known all these kids and working with them this week,” Gerg said.
That aforementioned roster isn’t short on talent by any means. Ridgway’s players were part of an Elkers squad that went 11-2 this year and won its fourth-consecutive District 9 title, the last two of which were in Class AA, while Wilson was a key part of Coudersport’s D9 Class A title.
In addition, each of the players from Smethport, Elk Catholic and Kane were part of playoff teams this year, while the others were standouts on their respective teams.
“It’s kind of like getting a really nice Corvette as a present,” Gerg joked. “It’s basically that you don’t drive so fast that you put it in the ditch. Just be responsible, go out and do the best you can, and let the car drive itself. These kids know the game, so I’m just here not to screw it up.”
Of course, Gerg and his squad know that across the field from them stand a few stellar playmakers, too. Highlighting this year’s KSAC squad are Clarion’s Austin Newcomb, Karns City’s Anthony Kamenski and Hunter Rowe and Redbank Valley’s Ethan Hetrick. In addition, St. Marys’ Jake Walter, Cain Pfoutz, Forest Cressley and Gage Burford are each playing.
“It’s why this is an all-star game. We know what they’re going to bring to the table, and we know they have a ton of talent,” Gerg said. “You just have to get out there, get a couple hits in and figure things out and feel your way through it.”
And that’s at the basis of how Gerg plans to deliver an AML win, too.
“Just get out there and make good decisions,” he said. “As much as it is a charity event, and we want to make the best of it, the people this is going to benefit are the real winners out of this. But they keep score, so we’re out to win.”
