Team PA announces Pennsylvania Big 33 Roster for 2015 Big 33 Football Classic
Written by: David Mika on Friday, February 13th, 2015. Follow David Mika on Twitter.
Harrisburg, PA – 2/13/2015 – During the month of January, 42 PSFCA (Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association) reviewed over 400 player tapes from Pennsylvania high school seniors that were nominated by the players coaches.
Team PA
The selection committee discussed and reviewed tape for each player that was nominated and decided on the following players to participate in the 58th Big 33 Football Classic on June 20, 2015 – kickoff is 7:06 PM at Hershey Park Stadium. 2015 AAA Pennsylvania Big 33 Football Roster
If you have questions about the players selected or the player selection process, please contact Garry Cathell, PSFCA Executive Manager at cathellgarry@hotmail.com
The Big 33 Football Classic is know as “The SuperBowl of High School Football”. It is a game rich in both History and tradition.
There has never been a Super Bowl played without a former Big 33 player on the roster!
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February 18th, 2015 at 9:59 am
Common Sense, that is true but today it is more position based recruiting. Some seniors today are close to 20 than 17 lol so the development needs to be more progressed. They usually do not want to convert a kid to a new position today unless his measurables are through the roof. its too much of a chance. In bragalones case with him hardly being 5foot10 and maybe 215 he can make a transition to another position especially linebacker almost impossible. D2 and small FCS teams with small budgets can still take a chance on pure athletes to convert to another position, but the big schools do not want to do that today. PSU used to back in the day move guys from QB to TE and hey are recruited for.
February 17th, 2015 at 9:13 pm
D1 colleges do not give kids scholarships because they had great HIGH SCHOOL careers. They give the scholarship based on how THEY feel the kid will play at the next level. Stats mean nothing coming from High school when it comes to recruiting. The big colleges look at where the kid will be at 20 and 21 years old not 17. Why do you think the majority of the starting players on this years 2 Super Bowl teams were rated 2 stars and below coming out of college.
February 17th, 2015 at 8:17 pm
Anybody else on here suffering from a bit of deja vu? I can’t get 2008 out of my head. Schuylkill Haven (A) had a kid named Barket that led the nation in rushing. Good sized kid, 5-10 210, and was the fastest kid on the field. Led his team to the state semi-final where they lost to Steelton-Highspire. Stellton-Highspire lost to Clairton in the finals that year. There was a big to do about Barket being left off of the big 33 team. You can google it and still find the debate threads. Folks couldn’t believe he wasn’t recruited by a “big time” school. Barket ended up playing for? You guessed it, Lehigh! He was gonna go to Lehigh and set every D1 AA record book on fire. This was a kid that USC, Alabama, and of course Penn State and all others were crazy for not giving a scholarship offer. He had a pretty nice career at Lehigh. Freshman year he was their 4th back, carried it a couple times per game and averaged 4.1 ypc. Sophomore year he moved to 3rd on the depth chart and had 4 more carries than the year before, 4.1 ypc again. Junior year he took over as the starter and had his best year at Lehigh with 706 yds, 4.9 ypc. Started again in his senior year and put up 525 yds, 3.8 ypc. This was a kid that all of the “big time” schools missed on. Dominated (A) football in high school and was a lock to do the same in college. Should have been running the ball at Penn State, but they don’t recruit kids from certain districts. Guess who ended up being right about the kid that led the nation in rushing as a high school senior? Right again, all of the know nothing scouts that didn’t offer and the stupid big 33 guys that didn’t pick him for the team. I’m pretty sure one of the RB’s on that team was Rob Hollomon from West Catholic. Small kid, 5-8 150. All he did was set the D1 AA record books on fire. Central Connecticut State’s all time rusher, multi-purpose, TD’s, and a few national records to boot. Right now he’s getting ready for the NFL draft. If it doesn’t work out, word is he will play professionally in Canada. Guess the big 33 guys were right there too.
February 17th, 2015 at 6:26 pm
Why you guys so mad if that kid didn’t get picked for the Big 33 game anyway? If he is so much better than those other backs than it will come out over time. I’m sure he’s gonna be good in college. As for the stats that you know about 40 times and vertical and horizontal and diagonal jumps that is all hear say. Until you actually see both kids timed at a combine that means absolutely nothing but one persons word. I did see the Pennsbury, Wood kid and Bragalone kid all play and I’m sorry he was definitely third out of the three in my opinion but he was still real good. Do you think he’s the only kid who people think have been slighted or think in another program would have been noticed more cause he’s not. I wonder how a lot of these other backs in AA,AAA, or AAAA would have done if they played in A against that competition? I think that’s the better argument.
February 17th, 2015 at 5:42 pm
D4 fan, I think Bragalone could easily be a d1 fullback at 5-10 220.. With his great strength and speed, no doubt he would have to gain a little weight. But it seems schools nowadays do not want to take a chance on a transition to a new position. They want proven fullbacks who blocked in high school. While Hynoski was not a fullback he was a lot bigger at 6-1 240 and was more of a traditional fullback type. But again that was a while ago.. It may be different now if Hyno was coming into college this year. Seems like everything is position based for recruiting.
February 17th, 2015 at 5:35 pm
I can only answer you in this way, scouts don’t attend nor pay attention to the “underwear olympics” stats…they see what they need on the field. Obviously, they didn’t see what they wanted at the “bigger” schools, believe me when I say “they did take a look”.
February 17th, 2015 at 5:31 pm
Billy, jive
So you both still did not answer me. Bragalone has a better vertical, A faster 40, a better long jump and is at least 250lbs stronger in the bench,sqaut, and clean combined. So since his stats dont mean anything cause he played pee wee teams, why doesnt the rest mean anything. C’MON guys why isnt he really getting recruited, or cant you say it. He is supposed to be fullback isnt he, is that what you are saying
February 17th, 2015 at 4:21 pm
@d4..so you’re going with that? the world is against D4? You do realize there are D4 officials on the boards that choose these teams right? There isn’t some group of 3 hiding in a back office choosing these teams. They take the selections very seriously.
As for him getting the same numbers if he played for Wood or another “big” team, we’ll never know. What we do know is SW does not face the same lines, LBs and defenses that a Wood faces. The talent level in 3A/4A is inherently better. The fact is he was a great back for SW, but not on any recruiting site top ten list. There’s a reason for this, has to be.
Bringing up Southern, you’re right…only one player in that time span of titles but again, there’s a reason. They didn’t win all those titles, make all those title appearances because of a great player or two, it’s because Roth has an amazing system in place and they place great team ball.
I agree with Jive, hope he does awesome at Lehigh on and off the field. He was a pleasure to watch.
February 17th, 2015 at 12:26 pm
d4,
Of course you agree with santa, it’s a D4 thing. Look the big 33 people aren’t going to change the roster because some fool that calls himself santa thinks a kid should be there, or some idiot that calls himself jive turkey thinks somebody shouldn’t. Using the equation that santa put out there, TD’s per carry, yd’s per carry, and the schedule difference between Wood and SW. There is no comparison, it’s not even close. Keep in mind McClenton got 1, 2, 4, 4, and 6 carries against Wood’s 5 weakest opponents. Don’t really want to get into the my dad could beat up your dad thing with this, however, you asked what I base it on and it pretty much speaks for itself. As far as the SCA teams, I loved watching Hynoski run the ball. He went D1 and was on the big 33 team. Who were their other D1 guys?. Never saw a player dominate a high school football game the way he did. Thing is he was the biggest kid on the field playing A ball. Went on to have a very nice career at Pitt blocking for Dion Lewis, Ray Graham, Chris Burns, Tino Sunseri, Tino who? Now playing FB for the Giants, probably one of the better FB’s in the league. Neither brought him in to run the rock because he dominated PA class A football in high school. Do you see where I’m going with this? Hopefully your guy has a great career at Lehigh, breaks all of their rushing records. If he doesn’t, hopefully he takes advantage in the classroom and makes an impact on society with his brain power. Either way I wish the kid the best of luck.
February 17th, 2015 at 12:08 pm
Bragalone unfortunately is much Too short for a d1 linebacker in 2015 recruiting. He is a very tough strong kid but he may be lucky to be 5foot10. The D1 schools today are looking for guys 6foot1 or taller and have played great competition to make an offer at that position. He is not very tall and he played single A and is primary position was not linebacker. In the D1 recruiting process schools are usually not gonna have athletes change a position unless they have very outstanding physical measurables.
February 17th, 2015 at 10:43 am
Some thoughts on Bragalone. I heard he was offered D1 scholarships, to play linebacker. The D1 schools all aanted him as a linebacker, not a running back. From what I heard, he is going to Lehigh beacause they were one of the few schools who wanted him as a running back, and he wants to tote the rock.
February 17th, 2015 at 10:16 am
Billy,brian, jive
Did you know that southern columbia has been to 13 state titles and won 6 of them and only one kid played in the big 33 game. 13 state titles!!!! Only one kid ever. No bragalone did not get picked for the east west game either. I completely agree with santa. The fact is that district 4 does not even exist in anyones minds. This is not just about bragalone its about the whole northeastern part of the state. There are kids that would walk in and start on the woods of the world and get recruited by big schools. What santa is saying is that because of the geographical area that some of these kids come from they get left out. How does he get nominated to 2 different all america teams and the other kids dont. Taking the word psu over anybody is a complete joke. There coach will be canned in a year or two unless the higher ups are ok with winning 6 or 7 games a year and barely making a bowl. The reason why is because they dont recruit the best kids and franklin wont run the ball. Santa is right, people go to psu saturday afternoons to have a cookout and play boardgames. So jive your saying that bragalone being tremendously stronger and faster in the 40 and a better standing long jump and vertical than McClenton he still would not start. So what do the no it alls base there recruiting on if the numbers dont lie. Please tell us because i do not understand
February 17th, 2015 at 7:51 am
Santa, I wasn’t saying your person turned down an invite. I was saying it happens. In the case of the person you’re talkin about, it happened. there were several other stud backs that didn’t get chosen. I can understand the single A ball argument and do understand it. How many southern players get picked every year? they always have a stud back. Facts are, single A ball is easier for a decent back to run up yards because the defenses aren’t loaded like they are in 3A and 4A. There’s no way to know how he’d do, however, I’ll take the word of schools like PSU, MD, Pitt etc…who didn’t feel he was “big school” ready. The last 2 record holders were also Single A. I’ll use another example, Guilfoyles A. Berger LED THE STATE in tackles, he didn’t even get a D1 offer….not even a sniff for the 33 game. These kids will probably be in the East/West game and that’s no insult. It’s the next game for them and an honor.
February 16th, 2015 at 11:37 pm
Santa you do understand A ball competition is way less talented than AA AAA and AAAA. They may have some real good players but man for man not even close. You always have those couple teams in A that are real good but most aren’t. That kid put up great numbers and is a great talent obviously but come on I understand why he was not a shoe in for the game. I don’t think anyone would have complained if he was picked but I would have been more surprised if he was chosen over the other backs.
February 16th, 2015 at 8:12 pm
Also,
He is D1 AA, not D1 A and thats what I was talking about. Sorry I wasn’t specific.
February 16th, 2015 at 8:09 pm
Santa,
In those playoff games his number of carries increased a lot and at least the last 2 he had 30 plus carries and against BG I think he had over 40 carries or it was just shy of 40. It’s one reason why I didn’t think South Williamsport would win a state title because they’re not really a team, they’re a player.
February 16th, 2015 at 7:40 pm
Whoa santa,
Numbers the same at Wood? DeMatha, North Penn, West, Ryan, LaSalle, Imhotep, Central Valley, a little different than what South Williamsport sees. Not gonna knock the SW schedule, they play who’s put in front of them. Just not even close to being in the same universe as the schedule Wood plays. However, the Wood comment hit a nail right on the head. He is a clone of Wood FB Arcangeli, and most likely would have had very similar numbers. 130-1004 16 TD’s. I’ll be dead honest with you and I hope you don’t take it the wrong way. I heard of the kid was but never saw him play. All of this started and I watched his hudl video. He would have been a back-up to McClenton at Wood or he would have played FB. I’m not saying that to be mean, I’m not saying it to start an argument, I’m not saying it because he plays up north. I really can’t stand Wood, but that is an honest assessment. That’s not a knock at all, I still think he’s a very good player that deserved a free ride. Some kids D1, some 1AA, and some D2. Anyway you look at it, that education is the most important thing.
February 16th, 2015 at 6:37 pm
jive,
thats my point these kids are preselected when they were freshman. like i said if he was at wood his numbers would be no different and he would have every college in the country after him. it is a complete disrespect to the best runningback in the state to have 170lb kids who run a 4.6 picked ahead of him. thats why the big 33 is a joke
February 16th, 2015 at 5:20 pm
The Bottom Line is there can only be 34 players taken. So someone who is deserving is going to be left off. And I am sure there is more than one deserving player that did not make it. Neither making the roster or not, validates or diminishes a players career. In the grand scope of life I think a full ride to a Patriot League school means a little more to this kid than Playing in an All Star game in June.
February 16th, 2015 at 4:37 pm
PA is now ranked 11th in college Football recruiting which is a huge drop off from the 1990s and somehow the selections back then had worse players on the big 33 roster than players that are selected now. Thank god we do not play Florida or Texas’ best and we play small Maryland or it would not be pretty.
South Williamsport’s Bragalone not a selection is a tragedy. Compare him to like the likes of mt carmel’s Brett Veach who made the team in 1997. Veach was a pretty good back but Bragalone statistically and physically much better as a running back but Veach’s team won the state championship.
February 16th, 2015 at 3:18 pm
I guess some folks throw some stuff out there to get a response and look for a fight. Realized it a few weeks ago and not buying into it now.
ESPN recruiting nation top 5 RB’s in PA; 1 Saquon Barkley (Penn State), 2 Andre Robinson (Penn State), 3 Olimade Zaccheaus (Virginia), 4 Josh Adams (Notre Dame), 5 Charles Snorweah (Rutgers). Rivals top 5; 1 Barkley, 2 Robinson, 3 Adams, 4 Snorweah, 5 Zaccheaus. 24/7 sports top 5; 1 Barkley, 2 Robinson, 3 Adams, 4 Zaccheaus, 5 Nassir Bonner (Marist), Snorweah was 6. 24/7 listed 11 backs, none of which were mentioned on this thread. Please stop looking for the conspiracy theory. The kid is a very good football player! Just like everything else in this world, there’s always somebody better. Who cares? Do you think he does? He’s going to get a great education for FREE at Lehigh because he is a very good football player. Why not leave it at that? Just leave the kid alone. I’m sure he appreciates the support, but I’d bet he also doesn’t really need or want it.
February 16th, 2015 at 10:57 am
brian,
so what you are saying is that old forge,pius x, and bishop guilfoyle are cupcakes? in these 3 games this kid had 1165 yards rushing and 12 tds. now these teams were averaging giving up 7 , 10, and 4 points a game. for the season he had 316 attempts in 15 games. my math shows 21 carries a game. that to me doesnt sound like a coach padding his stats, considering the average high school offense has 55 plays a game. as far as him not being a division 1 football player that is also incorrect. he did get a full ride to lehigh, or dont they count in your book. is psu what your looking for as far as a division 1 football team. i hope not because people stopped going there to watch football 4 years ago. as far as his cupcake regular season schedule i found that in the regular season his opponents held him for less yardage a game than in the postseason. billy splain this kid did not opt out he just plain and simple didnt get picked. so how does he make the parade all america team and max prep all america team and not make the big 33 for his own state. nobody has a real clear answer now do they. i will give you a clear answer. when you put up his numbers with his size and his 40 time which is a 4.38 its simple to explain. theses colleges and allstar commities keep going to the same fishing hole. the same places in there eyes produce the same kids year in and year out and they refuse to look else where, or fill there tank up with gas and drive a little to get the diamond in the rough. so if bragalone averaged 30 attempts a game instead of 21 he would of had 6806 in just one season based on his yards per carry. he also would have ended up with 97 tds on the year based on his td to every 4.6 carry ratio. i looked it up and in his district i can count at least 4 kids who had at least 30 carries a game. with all of that being said nobody has any room to talk of how his stats were padded. at any big or small private school his numbers would of been no different. the big difference would have been was that he would have been in the recruiters favorite fishing holes and he would of had his pick to wherever. 85000 will still attend psu to tailgate and watch franklin go for 3rd and longs all game because he refuses to run the ball. so bragalone dont be disappointed you are better off not playing in front of a half empty stadium. good luck at lehigh
February 15th, 2015 at 5:42 pm
hey guys, before we go bashing the process I’ll say this: YES, some players opted out. happens every year. Can we just appreciate the team we have and accept it now? Remember, these kids are chosen out of HUNDREDS of all state players..
February 15th, 2015 at 5:24 pm
Jerry,
34 kids on the roster, 20 from the east and 14 from the west. I don’t quite understand your bias towards west comment. Please clarify, thanks.
February 15th, 2015 at 5:17 pm
Thanks Jive Turkey, that makes sense, didn’t think about that, but believe you are correct.
February 15th, 2015 at 3:14 pm
Il tell you how, the big 33 selection process is bias toward western pa high schools.
February 15th, 2015 at 1:09 pm
My guess Santa is that the cupcake schedule they played in the regular season and the fact that his stats got padded by playing in games when he should’ve been on the bench. He’s not going D1 so its not just me that isn’t the most impressed with this guy. Good yes, D1 not really.
February 15th, 2015 at 12:10 pm
Not gonna knock any kid making or not making the team. They have 2 RB’s listed, both going to Big 10 schools. Not positive about the amount of all-star games players are allowed to play in. For some reason I think they’re limited to one. I could be wrong about that, but Bates played in one of the National all-star games. If I’m not mistaken about the rule, that would be why he’s not there.
February 15th, 2015 at 11:03 am
Really an Offensive Line without Ryan Bates??? Did he opt out? A Rivals 247, top Offensive Lineman 4 star. rated 2nd best offensive line pick, Penn State recruit and he’s not on the team?????????
February 14th, 2015 at 8:14 pm
so how does a kid break the pa state record and end up 2nd nation all time in a single season in rushing and not make the big 33 roster. did he opt out of it, please tell me that was the case. maybe he wasnt fast enough, maybe a 4.38 is not fast enough. maybe he isnt big enough, maybe 5-10 215lbs isnt big enough. maybe he isnt strong enough, maybe 450lbs on the bench is not strong enough. maybe he didnt play any competition. apparently 1900 yards in the playoffs alone wasnt good enough to go along with his 4700 total. maybe it was that he only had 350 yards against the state champs in the semi final game. maybe it was that he fel a couple tds short of 70 in a single season. maybe it was that he ended up 3rd ever all time in rushing in his career in the state of pa. maybe its because he is from the northern tier league and we are a joke to most of the state. maybe all of this was a fluke and his 15.6 yards a carry were do to a big miscalculation by the stat keepers and news papers. so yes i have questions garry cathell, please explain your process of selection for the big 33. its sounds like to me that dominick bragalone from south williamsport is over qualified for your pa team. if that is not the case then any other explanation is unacceptable.