Maryland to replace Ohio as Pennsylvania's opponent in Big 33 Classic

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER Ohio has been replaced by Maryland as Pennsylvania's opponent in the Big 33 Classic, the all-star football game that showcases many of the top graduating seniors in the state. According to a press release obtained by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, the Big 33 Scholarship Foundation, Inc. signed a five-year contract that will pit Pennsylvania's high school football all-stars against the best prep players from Maryland. The announcement came earlier this week and the game will switch to Pennsylvania-Maryland on June 15, 2013 at Hersheypark Stadium. “The competition, as well as the proximity to Hershey, Pa., will allow this to continue to be the premier high school football all-star game in America,” said Dave Trimbur, executive director of the Big 33 Scholarship Foundation. Ohio has won the last four games in the most recent series with Pennsylvania that began in 1993. Ohio won the overall recent series 11-9. There was also another stretch of Ohio vs. Pennsylvania games from 1972-76 and Pennsylvania won three of five in that era. Pennsylvania and Maryland had an eight-game series from 1985-92 and Pennsylvania won six of the eight games, including a 38-0 win in the final meeting in 1992. Previously, the Big 33 Classic matched Pennsylvania against national all-star teams and all-star squads from Texas. It was also run as an intra-state game for many years, pitting the East against the West. Attendance for the game in recent years has diminished. In its heyday, the game routinely drew five figures -- sometimes as much as 12,000. But last year's game, won by Ohio in overtime by a 24-21 score, drew an estimated 6,000.