ROSETO – One of the top returning underclassmen in Pennsylvania won’t be suiting up this season. In a email interview with Pius X’s head football coach Phil Stambaugh we found out today that AJ Long has left Pius X.

“This morning I found out his mother, who lives in Tennessee withdrew him from Pius”, said Head Football Coach Phil Stambaugh. “I had no idea he was leaving and I speak with him daily.”

“Despite the rumors early this year, Long isn’t leaving for another school in the Lehigh Valley. He is leaving to go to school in Tennessee”, said Stambaugh.

As a freshman, Long passed for 2,852 yards and 28 touchdowns. He rushed for 355 yards and four touchdowns.

Last season, Long completed 67 percent of his passes for 3,700 yards and 46 touchdowns.

In two years he has passed for 6,552 yards and is 3,201 yards away from breaking the all-time career passing yards record that is held by Brockway’s Derek Buganza (9,752 yards).

If you project his career numbers he would have shattered the career passing record, passing for more than 13,000 yards in his career.

MONROEVILLE, Pa. – During his high school career, it wasn’t uncommon for Pittsburgh Central Catholic quarterback Perry Hills to only attempt nine passes in a game.

But what Hills did with his nine pass attempts Sunday afternoon in his final scholastic football game of his career was something he admitted he’d never, ever done before during his two and one-half seasons as the Vikings’ field general.

Hills, a Maryland recruit, threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns, including two scoring strikes of 80 yards or more to Dontez Ford (Sto-Rox) as the West rolled up 364 yards passing in a 45-24 victory over the East in the PSFCA East-West All-Star Game played at Gateway High School in Monroeville.

The East-West game, previously played at Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona, was not played last season, but will now follow an alternating site pattern with its resumption. Gateway High School will serve as the host site for the even-numbered seasons and Downingtown East High School in Exton will serve as the East’s site in odd-numbered seasons.

The 45 points scored by the West marked a new game record for points scored by one team in the game. The 69 combined points also established a new game record, besting the 2009 edition, which featured 59 combined points in a 37-22 East victory.

And while there aren’t records for passing efficiency kept, it’s pretty safe to assume Hills would take the cake in that department.

“At Central Catholic, we always had a great running back I could hand the ball off to in Damion Jones-Moore,” Hills, the West MVP, said postgame. “It was great to come out and throw that much and for that many yards. It was my personal goal to win this game.”

If any Maryland Terrapin fans were watching, Hills certainly gave them plenty of reason to be excited, especially with his fourth and final touchdown pass – an 88-yard connection to Ford in the fourth quarter to cap the game scoring. Hills, lined up in the shotgun formation, saw the snap roll between his legs and into the end zone. He regained possession, rolled right, then floated a spiral to a wide-open Ford, who did the rest.

“It was supposed to be a running play,” Ford explained. “And I looked back and the defensive back was nowhere in sight and I was like, ‘How did he know it was a run so quickly?’ Then I saw Perry in the end zone. I just stayed with the play, caught the ball and took off.”

Take off the Syracuse-bound Ford did, high-stepping into the end zone to cap a five-catch, 193-yard, three-touchdown game.

“It feels good,” Ford said. “It feels good to come back and play good ball in my final game. My senior season ended with a 42-6 loss to Clairton (in the WPIAL championship game). It was great to end things on a high note.”

Early on, however, it was the East pushing all the right buttons. Just 61 seconds into the contest, the green-and-white clad visitors led 7-0 thanks to a Daniel Brown (C.B. South) nine-yard scoring run. That margin was pushed to 10-0 thanks to a Brad Lukasak (Blue Mountain) 48-yard field goal.

The West, meanwhile, was sputtering. Starting field general Steve Franco threw a pair of interceptions within the West’s first four plays from scrimmage and lost a fumble on the team’s sixth play from scrimmage.

“After the first three possessions (of the game), I went over to Steve on the sidelines and we talked about bouncing back,” said West head coach Homer DeLattre (Corry Area). “I told him, ‘I have full confidence in you to go out and get the job done.’”

Franco did rebound, connecting with Darren Massey (Montour) on a 74-yard pass-and-catch before hooking up with Ford for a seven-yard scoring pass to bring the West within 10-7 through one quarter.

Then, it was Hills’ show. He hit his first four passes of the day for 122 yards, including scoring passes of 32 yards to Jamar Clark (McKeesport) and 80 yards to Ford to move the West ahead, 21-10.

Then, right before halftime, Hills stuck a dagger in the East’s side after the guests had pulled to within 21-17 on a 61-yard pass from Matt Johns (C.B. South) to Adam Bridgeforth (Nazareth). On that seven-play, 67-yard drive, Hills hit passes of 10 yards to Ford and 40 yards to Clark before finding Massey from 13 yards out with 16 seconds left in the half.

After Brown brought the East to within four, 28-24, on an eight-yard run in the third quarter, the West scored the game’s final 17 points to pull away. De’Andre Moon (Rochester) scored on a 19-yard run; Ryan Gralish (Mars) booted a 30-yard field goal and Hills found Ford on the aforementioned 88-yard broken play.

“They had some very talented athletes that had the ability to make plays,” said East head coach Joe Repshis (Abington Heights). “I thought our defensive backs played well today, but it’s just a testament to the quarterback and his ability to hit those passes.”

The West finished with 532 yards of total offense – 364 through the air and another 168 on the ground. Moon led all backs with a game-high 119 yards rushing, while Hills added four totes for 24 yards and Franco four carries for 17 yards. Clark caught two passes for 72 yards and Massey two for 87.

Johns, the East MVP, finished 8-of-14 for 194 yards and one touchdown and added five rushes for 20 yards. Brown paced the East ground game with nine rushes for 33 yards and the pair of touchdowns. Bobby Martarella (Neshaminy) was the top receiver, hauling in four passes for 76 yards while Mark Doe (Academy Park) added two receptions for 85 yards.

Both Repshis and DeLattre noted the efforts of their teams coming together despite only a few weekend practices leading up to Sunday’s game.

“The experience leading up to this game was phenomenal – we had zero problems,” Repshis said. “I can’t say enough about the work ethics of the players and I am very proud of their effort.”

“This game shows you that guys of great character who are good football players can come together and connect as a team,” DeLattre said. “The comraderie was amazing, and these guys just connected.”

NOTES: The East leads the all-time series, 7-4. Sunday marked the first time the West all-stars had scored more than 24 points in the game and marked the West’s first victory in the series since 2008. Lukasak, who will walk on at Pitt, had a 37-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter blocked by Mike Shansky (Blackhawk), which was recovered and returned 26 yards by Brian Jones (Gateway). Philipsburg-Osceola’s Kyle Lanich, listed at 6’4, 315 pounds, played the entire game at center for the West. Both teams were flagged six times each for a combined 115 yards. Harding, who threw for 3,739 yards at Nazareth in his senior season, finished with 31 passing yards in 16 attempts. The game featured 10 plays from scrimmage of 32 yards or longer, not including special teams.

Three veteran broadcasters have been chose for the broadcast.  Alex Panormios will have the play-by-play call, Chris Kucharski will serve as the color analyst and Eddie Walker will be the sideline reporter for the game.

Mr. Panormios has been the Voice of Duquesne University football for 16 years as well as North Hills High School football in Pittsburgh.  Mr. Kucharski is a veteran broadcaster who has experience in the western and eastern halves of the state and is currently the editor of the Northeast Pa Football Network out of District 2.  Mr. Walker currently does games for Fox Sports Radio The Game in Scranton and is host of The 12th Man Scoreboard Show on PrepNationRadio.com.

The East-West game got its start when members of the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association approached the Allegheny Mountains Convention & Visitors Bureau to help organize and produce a sister game to the Big 33 Game. The Big 33 Game features the top players in the state against players from Ohio. Unfortunately only 34 players can be selected to represent Pennsylvania, and in a state with a rich football tradition many quality players are left out. Thus, the PSFCA East West All Star Game was conceived giving the honor to play in a statewide, prestigious all star game to 68 more players

The East-West game had been an annual occurrence since 2001 until last season.  The game wasn’t played because of changes to NCAA rules.  The PSFCA expects it to be played annually again with it alternating to each side of the state.  Next year, the game is tentatively scheduled for Downingtown.  The previous ten games were played in Altoona.

Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania is the primary sponsor for the event.  Click here for the 2012 team rosters.  Corry Area’s Homer DeLattre will coach the West team while Abington Heights’ Joe Repshis will coach the East squad.

Gilbert was the head football coach at Palisades for 9 years, winning two District 11 titles with a record of 61-43.

EASTON, PA (Feb. 6, 2012) – Lauren’s First and Goal Foundation today announced that registration is now available for its 2012 high school football camps in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The LFG football camps are scheduled for Sunday, June 3 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. and Sunday, June 10 at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. The camps are open to student-athletes who will be entering grades 9 through 12 in Sept. 2012. During the one-day, non-contact camp, athletes receive instruction in a variety of offensive and defensive skills from volunteer college coaches from around the country. Each camp also includes a guest speaker, which will be announced closer to the camp date.

To register for the camps, student-athletes can visit www.LaurensFirstandGoal.org for a seamless online registration experience. Campers wishing to pay by check can download printable forms from the website and mail their registrations. The cost of the camp is $30, and any donation more than the registration fee is 100% tax deductible. The first 400 pre-registered campers will receive a free LFG t-shirt.

More than 2,300 athletes and over 300 volunteer college coaches, representing Division I, II and III institutions participated in last year’s camps. Since 2004, more than 12,000 student-athletes from 30 states and three countries have attended an LFG camp.

The camps are the primary fundraiser for Lauren’s First and Goal Foundation, which is a 501c3 charitable organization that provides financial support for brain tumor research and cancer services, offers financial and emotional support to families living with pediatric cancer, and increases awareness of the disease. Created in 2004 by John and Marianne Loose in honor of their 14-year-old daughter Lauren, a pediatric brain tumor survivor, LFG has donated more than $1 million toward the fight against pediatric brain tumors and cancer.

Follow the latest camp news on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LFGfootballcamp and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LaurensFirstandGoal.

McCarroll currently lives in Lehighton, and teaches in Reading, but will soon  have a teaching position in Whitehall. He is also a graduate of Marian Catholic and Colgate University.

Lehighton was 4-6 last season. Lehighton is the third school in the Mountain Valley Conference to name a new head football coach, joining new members, Allen and Dieruff.

Cerco began his coaching career at Salisbury in 2001, then had stops along the way at Moravian College, Central Catholic and Southern Lehigh. He is a 2002 graduate of Moravian College and he is currently a special education teacher at Salisbury since 2005.

There are four teams that have two players named to the team. Allentown Central Catholic’s dynamic duo Brendan Nosovitch and Kevin Guylas were named. Bishop McDevitt’s DB Miles Williams and All-American DL Noah Spence, Penn Hills WR Cory Jones and DL Treyvon Hester and Woodland Hills WR Shakim Alonzo and LB Mike Caprara.

The Big 33 Classic is scheduled for Hersheypark Stadium on June 16th,2012.

They are Allentown Central Catholic teammates – quarterback Brendan Nosovitch and wide receiver Kevin Gulyas. Nosovitch is a verbal commitment to South Carolina and Kevin Gulyas has not committed.

Blue Mountain Eagles lineman Jason Emerich was also selected to play on the Pennsylvania Big 33 Team.

The Big 33 All-Star Football Classic is scheduled to be played June 16 at Hersheypark Stadium.

In a game that came down to a 2 yard touchdown run by Zayd Isaah with 8:08 left in the game, Central Dauphin (15-1) would win their first Class 4A Football Title in school history as they would defeat the North Penn Knights, 14-7.

In fact, this was District 3’s first AAAA state title since 1992 when Cumberland Valley beat Upper Saint Clair, 28-12, in a game played at Altoona’s Mansion Park.

Rams’ running back Drew Scales started the scoring halfway through the second quarter when he caught a flare from quarterback Brandon VaVia, for a 74 yard score. The Rams lead at halftime, 7-0.

Drew Scales would carry the ball 10 times for 109 yards.

The Knights (13-3) would tie the game up at 7 a piece, early in the fourth quarter, as Knights’ running back James Fielder would burst into the end zone from 5 yards out.

But, the Rams would answer back on their next possession, on Zayd Isaah’s 2 yard touchdown run, for a 14-7 lead.

North Penn would have a chance to retaliate but the drive would stall after three plays and a yard gain, and the Knight would punt and never possess the ball again.

The Rams would get the ball with seven minutes left in the game, and never relinquish the ball to run out the clock for the win.

Central Dauphin would mount 339 yards of total offense on the night, 265 of them coming from the rushing game. The Rams would average 5.6 yards per carry.

Scales’ teammate, Adam Hollinger would tote the pigskin 10 times for 79 yards.

North Penn would earn a total of 193 offensive yards, with most of them coming from the running back – 131 yards to be exact. Knights’ quarterback Corey Ernst would throw for 62 yards on 7 completions.

Central Dauphin quarterback Brandon LaVia would complete 2 passes for 74 yards.

In the special teams department, the Rams’ would earn 98 return yards, while the Knights would only compile 55 yards.

Neither team would have a turnover in the game.