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Ohio Pounds Pennsylvania In Big 33 Football Classic
By Tom Robinson

HERSHEY - Cardale Jones passed for three touchdowns and Akise Teague scored three Saturday night, but it was a defensive play that helped turn the 54th annual Big 33 Football Classic into a rout.

Doran Grant went from end zone to end zone on a 101-yard interception return in the final two minutes of the first half to send Ohio on its way to a 50-14 romp over Pennsylvania at Hersheypark Stadium.

Pennsylvania had cut a two-touchdown lead to one once and was threatening to do it again. Grant’s interception instead made the lead 28-7 with 1:40 left in the first half.

“We had a lot of changes with injuries, graduations and missing people,” Pennsylvania coach Tim Rimpfel said. “We made too many mistakes and they took advantage.

“A good team will do that and, oh boy, did they have some speed.”

Ohio soon started picking the Pennsylvania defense apart and, after scoring on its first possession of the second half, opened a 35-7 lead just 3:31 into the third quarter on its fourth touchdown of at least 40 yards.

When Ohio broke away, Pennsylvania suffered its worst loss ever in the all-star game for graduating high school football players. The third straight win gave Ohio a 10-9 lead in the series since it returned to this format in 1993. Counting a series of games in the 1970s, the states are even at 12-12.

The teams appeared anything but evenly matched Saturday.

By the time Cincinnati recruit Teague scored his third touchdown on a 40-yard pass from Ohio State recruit Cardale Jones for the 35-7 advantage, Ohio had a 317-106 advantage in total offense.

Teague, who ran 52 and 20 yards for touchdowns in the first quarter, was named Ohio’s Most Valuable Player.

“This is going to be on my dresser at my dorm,” Teague said while clutching the MV trophy.

Teague carried eight times for 102 yards and caught two passes for 66 yards.

The Ohio defense also did its part, producing two interceptions in the first half and a total of seven sacks for 43 yards in losses.

In a game that featured 20 future Big Ten players, Ohio benefited from the availability of five Ohio State recruits. Jones threw three touchdown passes, including a 54-yarder in the second quarter and a 28-yarder in the fourth quarter to future teammate Devin Smith

Jones was 4-for-6 for 165 yards while Smith caught three passes for 103 yards.

Pennsylvania had just two Penn State players - athlete Shawn Oakman from Penn Wood and defensive lineman Jordan Kerner from Fairview.

There were not any Susquehanna County players in the game, but the Lackawanna Football Conference had two players and District 2 a total of three in the game.

Morgan Craig of Abington Heights played tight end, Brandon Clemons of Delaware Valley played both ways in the line and Julian Campenni of Wyoming Area started at defensive tackle. Riverside’s Nick Rossi was part of the Pennsylvania team but sat out the game with a leg injury.

WEEK IN REVIEW

The high school sports year came to an end with the last Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association championships Friday at Penn State.

Tunkhannock was the last District 2 team alive, making it to the Class AAA baseball championship game where it lost to Northern York, 6-3.

The last Lackawanna League team, Valley View, was eliminated four days earlier in the Class AAA softball semifinals when a sixth-inning error gave Manheim Central a 1-0 victory.

Brandywine Heights, the team that eliminated Elk Lake in 11 innings in the quarterfinals, dropped the Class AA softball championship game to Philipsburg-Osceola, 1-0.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.

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NASCAR Racing
By Gerald Hodges

BRROKLYN, Mich. - Carl Edwards looked like he was going to sweep the racing weekend at Michigan International Speedway, but a late caution after Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit the outside wall in Sunday’s Cup race caused him to wind up fifth.

Edwards was leading the race when Earnhardt swiped the wall with 10-laps to go in the 200-lap race. During the caution period, all the leaders pitted.

Denny Hamlin and Edwards’ teammate Matt Kenseth beat Edwards out of the pit. On the restart, Hamlin got a good jump and held off Kenseth for his first win of the season.

Denny Hamlin, winner of Michigan Cup race. Photo furnished by Toyota Motorsports.

“We finished, that’s the good news,” said Hamlin. “This is one race we didn’t have any major issues or breakdowns. We might not have looked as strong as we have been, but there at the end we made the right adjustments that put us out front.”

Kenseth closed on Hamlin, but coming out of the last turn on the last lap, Kenseth’s car wiggled and he had to back out of it.

“I think we did a great job,” said Kenseth. “We were close, but I just couldn’t get around him.”

Kyle Busch was third, and Paul Menard came in fourth, his best finish of the season.

“It was a good run for us,” said Menard. “We’ve had a rough season, and some unfortunate things have happened, but today we were able to put together a full race.”

Carl Edwards, the winner of the Michigan Nationwide race was fifth, followed by Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, and Brian Vickers.

Polesitter Kurt Busch was 11th.

Despite his brush with the wall, Dale Jr. finished on the lead lap in the 21st spot.

Both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon had early problems. Gordon was able to finish 17th, while Johnson was one-lap down in 27th.

Top-12 Chase contenders after 15 of 36: 1. Edwards-532, 2. Harvick-512, 3. Earnhardt-505, 4. Kyle Busch-503, 5. Johnson-503, 6. Kenseth-491, 7. Kurt Busch-491, 8. Newman-456, 9. Hamlin-455, 10. Bowyer-455, 11. Stewart-454, 12. J. Gordon-438

ROUSH TEAMS FINISH FIRST, SECOND, AND FIFTH

Carl Edwards passed teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with only nine laps remaining to post his third victory of the season in a dominating Roush Fenway effort in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway. Roush Fenway teams led 101 of 125 laps, with all three of its Ford Mustangs leading during the event. Stenhouse went on to finish second and Trevor Bayne finished fifth.

“Ricky (Stenhouse) drove his heart out - that guy is unbelievable, just an unreal driver,” said Edwards. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to get him, but it looked like his car got a little tight there at the end.”

It was the fifth win for the organization at MIS and the fifth win for Roush Fenway this season in the Nationwide Series. It is Edwards’ third NNS win this season.

“We just got too tight there at the end,” said Stenhouse. “It was a good one-two finish for Jack and everyone at Roush-Yates Engines. This track definitely needs a motor and we have it. This was a great day for Ford, we wanted a one-two-three finish, but three cars in the top-five and one-two is pretty good.”

Kyle Busch won a heated battle against polesitter Paul Menard for the third position, with Menard rolling across the stripe in fourth.

They have definitely picked their game at Roush Fenway Racing,” said Bayne. “Jack told me that last year when I came over and he’s keeping his promises, because these things have been pretty much unstoppable. Hopefully we’ll be the one sitting in victory lane soon, but I had a front row seat watching Ricky and Carl battle it out for the win there.”

Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Elliott Sadler, Brad Keselowski, and Jason Leffler were the remaining top-10 finishers.

Top-10 leaders after 15 of 34: 1. Stenhouse-525, 2. Sadler-523, 3. Sorenson-521, 4. Allgaier-508, 5. Almirola-471, 6. Leffler-471, 7. K. Wallace-441, 8. S. Wallace-415, 9. Scott-393, 10. Annett-371

IS EDWARDS ABOUT TO LEAVE FORD

For several weeks there have been rumors that Carl Edwards might leave his Ford ride with Roush Fenway for another team if the price was right. This past week Edwards has been linked to Joe Gibbs Racing, which currently has three drivers; Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano.

JGR president J.D. Gibbs acknowledged that the organization would be interested in talking to Edwards if sponsorship could be acquired for a fourth team. However, there is concern as to how long Logano will remain with the organization if he doesn’t step up his track performance.

Fox Sports reported that Roush Fenway president Steve Newman called the Edwards' negotiation "a slow and steady process." Both Roush and Ford have worked diligently to entice Edwards to remain in the blue-oval camp but are starting to feel the pressure from Toyota.

“We have constant conversations with Carl,” Newmark said. “I still remain cautiously optimistic that we'll get something done, but as we've talked about before, the process that we're going through, we want to make sure that we have everything in order going forward and Carl's main focus is on making sure he's going to a place where he can win championships.”

Newmark said he understands that Edwards is shopping the market and "has no issue with him engaging in discussions."

Edwards is a great race car driver as well as a sharp businessman. From my standpoint, I don’t see him leaving Roush, because of the improvements they have made in their cars. But like all drivers, Edwards will go with the team that offers him the most hope to get his first Cup championship.

Weekend Racing: The Cup teams are at the 2-mile road course in Sonoma, California. The Nationwide teams travel to the 4.50-mile Road America track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for the first time. The Truck teams do not race again until July 7.

Sat., June 25, Nationwide 200, race 16 of 34, Starting time: 5:30 p.m.; TV: ESPN.

Sun., June 26, Sprint Cup Toyota Save/Mart 350, race 16 of 36, Starting time: 3 p.m.; TV: TNT.

All times are Eastern.

Racing Trivia Question: Which is the newest NASCAR track?

Last Week’s Question: Which two NASCAR Sprint Cup tracks are road courses? Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California and Watkins Glen, New York.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.

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