BlueWhiteIllustrated.com - Ohio eeks out 38-31 win in Big 33 Classic

June 20, 2009

Nate Bauer
BlueWhiteIllustrated.com Editor

HERSHEY, Pa. ? The odds were stacked against the Pennsylvania squad before tonight's Big 33 Classic even started.

Lining up against an Ohio team loaded with Division I talent - sending 32 of 34 players to Division I programs, Pennsylvania's lineup included only 13 players heading to Division I schools.

Clearly, the Pennsylvania team didn't take notice.

With future Penn Stater Curtis Drake at the quarterback position, the Blue team's Rob Hollomon took the opening kickoff back to Ohio's 39-yard line. A Drake 24-yard burst and a couple of handoffs later, Pennsylvania took a quick 7-0 lead.

"When I came out to play against these guys I knew they were the best of the best so I wanted to definitely put on a show just to prove to myself that I can play with this type of talent, that's what I had to do," Drake said.

That's exactly what he did.

With 284 all-purpose yards, Drake set a new record for the Big 33 game, breaking Steve Breaston's previous mark of 281 yards.

Even through most of the first three quarters, the talent-rich Ohio squad was unable to pull away from Pennsylvania, taking a 17-17 tie into the halftime locker room before pulling away for a 31-17 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.

Leading the charge for the Pennsylvania squad in the first half, Drake was impressive, consistently finding holes and breaking off long carries on designed quarterback runs.

In fact, with 7:14 to play in the first half, Drake took a quarterback draw 44 yards down to the one yard line before getting shoved out of bounds.

The next play, he put it in the end zone to cut Ohio's lead to 17-14 with 6:44 to play.

Brandon McManus' field goal tied it at 17 going into the halftime locker room.

Although the Pennsylvania squad held Ohio in check for most of the second half, mistakes continued to be its Achilles heel.

With Drake leading his offensive teammates down the field, Pennsylvania set itself up at the Ohio 1-yard line.

Yet, Drake fumbled the ball while knocking on the doorstep.

"There was a silent count and I just had to wait for the center to snap the ball," he said. "I had it a little bit but it's no problem.

"That was a killer. I put that all on my shoulders. I was mad about that."

Drake's fumble gave the ball back to Ohio, however, setting up the longest scoring play in Big 33 history.

Taking the ball from its own 1-yard line, Ohio quarterback Austin Boucher found wide out Micah Hyde over the middle into broken coverage. Cutting past the two Pennsylvania defenders, Hyde burst down the field for the 99-yard touchdown to put Ohio ahead, 24-17.

Following a Pennsylvania turnover, Ohio advanced the score to 31-17 before the start of the third quarter.

Ohio running back Fitzgerald Toussaint took a toss left and followed his blockers into the end zone for the five-yard score.

The Pennsylvania squad wasn't out of it, however.

"Just me showing just the heart and never give up mentality. I definitely proved that," Drake explained. "Even when we were down, I'm telling the boys on the sideline that we're taking it in."

After squandering perfect field position on a Hollomon 51-yard kickoff return, Pennsylvania responded defensively when defensive back Chris Houston's interception set up his teammates at the Ohio 8-yard line.

Drake responded by inching his Pennsylvania squad closer to the goal line until eventually taking a shotgun snap to his right and cutting into the end zone from the one-yard line to tie it at 31 with 2:21 left to play.

Unfortunately for Pennsylvania, the tie wouldn't stick.

With about a minute and a half left in the game, Boucher took a shotgun snap from midfield and sprinted toward the end zone all the way down to the 9-yard line.

As time wound down, Boucher handed the ball to fullback Adam Replogle on third and goal from the one-yard line, who pushed it into the end zone to give Ohio the 38-31 win with just :20 seconds to play.

For his efforts, Drake was named the MVP for the Pennsylvania squad.

Boucher took the honors for the Ohio team.

Penn State NEWS

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