Make no mistake, Hershey, PA is Chocolatetown, USA. Between the lamp-posts shaped like Kisses, the theme park and the immortal brown-wrapped candy bar bearing the city’s name, Hershey has a monopoly on the country’s sweet tooth.
Which is why that stadium seems so out of place among the parents with tired smiles and the kids with brown outlines on their cheeks. Who could possibly want to hold a football game here, much less one played in June?
Pennsylvania and Ohio, that’s who.
Every year, the two states do battle at Hersheypark Stadium, in a game that’s known as the Big 33. The 33 refers to the amount of players each side was allowed. It’s since grown to 34 – to accommodate the kicker.
The Big? Well, there are two schools of thought on this one.
It could refer to the players who have played in this game. Joe Montana is a Big 33 alum. So is Jim Kelly. In fact, every Super Bowl has contained at least one Big 33 participant.
It could also refer to the fact that this could be the last meaningful game these athletes ever play. This might be the last big moment before their career comes to a close. Or, it could be the first glimpse of something greater, some hidden talent that even the scouts missed.
The launching pad possibility is why between 8 to 10 thousand people showed up at this game, clad in the red of Ohio or the blue of Pennsylvania. To see 68 high school kids play for their athletic lives. And make no mistake, the game had a decisively high school feel.
There was the unfurling of the giant American flag at the 50-yard-line during the anthem. There was the helicopter flyover, so unnerving that it could have served as the beginning of Die Hard 5. And there were the fans, fitting the three types of high school football follower; the “Can we go now?” child, the angst-ridden teenager and the adults, hoping that something magical might happen on that field.
For Pennsylvania, no rabbits were pulled out of hats on this day. Ohio dominated every facet of the game, winning 50-14. And there was one player on that Ohio team who had some magic of his own.
His name is Akise Teague. He’s a 5-foot-9, 178 pound running back, though the real numbers could be even smaller. He just finished his senior season at Ursuline High School in Youngstown, OH, where he finished as both the state’s choice for Mr. Football and a state champion.
The Cincinnati-bound Teague was also nothing short of spectacular on this day as well, racking up 168 total yards, three touchdowns, a MVP trophy and one play that no one in attendance will forget.
On this particular play, Teague took the handoff from Carlton Jones and took off for the left sideline. The only issue was that Ejuan Price, a Woodland Hills product who recently committed to Pitt, was sitting in the hole. Price had already made several solid tackles and had already squared up to hit Teague…only the hit never came.
Instead, Teague bounded back, leaving Price grasping at air. The crowd roared its approval as Teague now faced another problem. The entire PA defense was heading straight to his position.
With that in mind, Teague sprinted behind his line, picking up blockers as he made it back to his starting position. From there, only three defenders remained before Teague could find the end zone.
Still 20 yards away from the end zone, Teague cut to the inside of two defenders, letting his last blocker wall them off. He then bounced off the last of the opposition before racing into the end zone to make it 14-0.
Records will show that the entire sequence took 16 seconds. But it seemed like more, as if hours had passed from the snap of the ball till both of Teague’s cleats crossed the goal line.
And that’s how the play will be as a memory, etched into the minds of those who saw it. It was as sweet as any chocolate bar the city ever produced.
Leave a Reply