HERSHEY — Former Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman was the honorary chairman for Saturday night’s 56th annual Big 33 Classic in Hershey.
But another receiver stole the show.
Clairton’s Tyler Boyd put on one of the best performances in the all-star game’s history, scoring four touchdowns and throwing for one more in Pennsylvania’s 58-27 win over Maryland.
Boyd, who is headed to the University of Pittsburgh after setting the WPIAL record with 117 touchdowns, opened the game with a 91-yard kickoff return. He added a rushing TD and two receptions for scores in addition to heaving a 68-yard TD strike to Brian Lemelle.
Pennsylvania, which had lost the last four Big 33 games against Ohio, opened up a 21-0 lead before two minutes had elapsed and never led by less than10 the rest of the way.
In addition to Boyd’s kickoff return, a fumble on Maryland’s first kickoff return led to Brown’s first TD reception on play later.
Then an interception returned for a TD by Boyd’s Clairton teammate Titus Howard opened up a three-touchdown margin just one minute and 20 seconds into the game televised nationally by the NFL Network.
Nazareth coach Rob Melosky served as a Pennsylvania assistant coach and was in charge of special teams. He was pleased that his kickoff teams made an immediate impact.
“Art Walker [Pennsylvania’s head coach from North Allegheny] made a point of emphasizing special teams all week,” Melosky said. “He’s similar to me in how passionate he is about that part of the game. He thought it could be a difference maker and we were able to make some big plays.”
Later in the game, Pennsylvania's Matt Galambos blocked a PAT kick by Maryland and ran it all the way back for two points.
Unfortunately, the lone Lehigh Valley player in the game, Easton linebacker Austin Brown, only got to participate on a few kickoffs.
On the first one, he felt a pop in his right leg while running down the field. He was diagnosed with a pulled hamstring and sat on the bench the rest of the first half. He then took his pads off at halftime.
“Just to get in there on a couple of special teams plays wasn’t ideal, but there was nothing I could do about it," Brown said. "I could still say I was part of the Big 33 experience. It was still pretty cool."
Brown was initially selected for the team, but an injury gave him an opening to join the roster and he seized it. Melosky said he had done a great job all week.
"It's a shame and we all really felt bad for him because he came into the game late with a great attitude and did everything that was asked of him," Melosky said. "I look down at my special teams chart and he was listed all over the place. We had to make some adjustments without him."
At the end of the night, Brown was all smiles as he posed for pictures with teammates and family members.
"I can always say I was on the same team with Tyler Boyd," Brown said. "He's for real. You turn on the TV on Saturdays and you're going to see a lot of these guys playing in major college games and some of them have a chance to play on Sundays."
Maryland 0 -- 20 -- 7 -- 0 --- 27
Pennsylvania 21 -- 16 -- 14 -- 7 -- 58
FIRST QUARTER
PA -- Tyler Boyd 91 kickoff return (Ryan Winslow kick), 11:45
PA -- Boyd 16 pass from Mack Leftwich (Winslow kick), 11:25
PA -- Titus Howard 39 interception return (Winslow kick), 10:40
SECOND QUARTER
PA -- Boyd 4 run (Winslow kick), 10:15
MD -- Kyle Levere 11 pass from Shane Cockerille (Ben Priddy kick), 7:43
MD -- Cockerille 1 run (kick failed), 5:05
PA -- Matt Galambos ran back blocked PAT, 5:05
MD -- Reggie Ellis 32 pass from Cockerille (Priddy kick), 2:11
PA -- Brian Lemelle 68 pass from Boyd (Winslow kick), 0:47
THIRD QUARTER
MD -- Luke Casey 2 run (Priddy kick), 6:11
PA -- Chris Jones 57 pass from Damion Terry (Winslow kick(), 4:06
PA -- Boyd 5 pass from Leftwich (Winslow kick), 1:40
FOURTH QUARTER
PA -- Jones 4 pass from Leftwich (Winslow kick) 3:11
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