Once again, Pennsylvania’s Big 33 roster does not include a Berks County player
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For the first time in nearly 30 years Berks County could be without a representative in the Big 33 Classic in back-to-back seasons.
The PSFCA announced its 40-player squad Friday. The only player selected from the Lancaster-Lebanon League is Donovan Rodriguez, a cornerback from Manheim Township.
Roster changes are often made in the months leading up to the game and it’s possible a Berks player could be added. If that doesn’t happen it’ll mark the first time since 1996 that no Berks players were taken in consecutive years.
The last Berks players to take part in the game were Cam Jones of Wilson and Anthony Caccese of Exeter, both in 2023.
Pennsylvania will face Maryland in the 68th Big 33 Classic Sunday, May 25 at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field; kickoff is 7:30. Matt Ortega of Coatesville will be Pennsylvania’s head coach. Former Wilson assistant coach Chad Brubaker will be on the Pennsylvania staff.
Rosters for the PSFCA East/West games will be announced next week. Several Berks players are expected to be selected for the Big School or Small School teams. Those games will be played May 18, with the Small School game kicking off at noon and the Big School game at 5.
The only player on the Pennsylvania Big 33 squad with a Berks connection is Mykell Ford, a 275-pound defensive tackle from Roman Catholic; he began his high school career at Gov. Mifflin.
There have been several time in the past three decades when a Berks player was selected for the roster but was unable to play in the game, usually because of restrictions placed on the recruits by the colleges they had committed to.
More and more top college programs have requested that their commits don’t take part in the game. That was the case for Alex Twiford in 2016 and Jox Fox in 2015, Wilson grads committed to play at Bucknell.
In recent years many programs have urged their top prospects to enroll early in college, making them ineligible for the game. That was the case with Gov. Mifflin’s Nick Singleton in 2022 and Wyomissing’s Jven Williams in 2023; each enrolled at Penn State in January of their senior high school year.
That was also the case with Alex Anzalone of Wyomissing in 2013; he enrolled early at the University of Florida.
Recent Berks participants in the game have included Richmond recruit Aiden Mack of Wyomissing in 2022, Pittsburgh recruit Brandon George of Berks Catholic in 2019, and Syracuse recruit Cooper Lutz of Berks Catholic in 2018.
Gov. Mifflin’s Cam’Ron Stewart, a Rutgers recruit, was Pennsylvania’s MVP in the 2021 game after a terrific performance from his spot at defensive end.
The Big 33 Classic has showcased many of the greatest high school players in Pennsylvania history, including Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Tony Dorsett, Ricky Waters, Ben Roethlisberger and Kyle Brady.
The Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl roster included a pair of Big 33 alum: A.J. Woods, who played at Northwest High in Germantown, Md., and Jahan Dotson, who played at Nazareth.
Brett Veach, general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, is a Mount Carmel grad and played in the Big 33 in 1997.
At least one Big 33 alum has participated in every Super Bowl. Herb Adderley, who played in the Big 33 in 1957, was the first. He played at Northeast in Philadelphia and appeared in the first Super Bowl, in 1967, with the Green Bay Packers. (The initial game was officially called the AFL-NFL World Championship.)
Namath, a Beaver Falls grad who played quarterback for the New York Jets, was MVP of Super Bowl III in 1969. Montana, who played at Donora High, was a three-time MVP and four-time Super Bowl champ with the San Francisco 49ers.