It was a big weekend for Penn State football.
Several future Penn State players took part in the annual Big 33 Classic, which was held at Hersheypark Stadium on Saturday night. And while Ohio won, 38-31 in a shootout, the future Nittany Lions made their presence known.
In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll look back at the Big 33, have our No. 10 moment from the past year in Penn State athletics and feature another member of the Class of 2009.
Let’s begin with the Big 33.
If the Big 33 is any indication, Curtis Drake could be a big-time player for the Nittany Lions. (Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
PSU Players Shine at Big 33
At the Big 33 Classic on Saturday night, Pennsylvania dropped a tough 38-31 decision to Ohio. However, Curtis Drake quarterbacked for PA and showed Penn State that it may just want to keep him at QB.
He won the MVP award for Pennsylvania, as he carved up Ohio for 285 total yards and a pair of touchdowns. For Drake, it was no big deal.
“The whole week, me going against our starting defense helped me adjust a little bit to the speed of the game. That was basically the biggest difference,” Drake noted.
Pennsylvania — which was coached by Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko — got into a shootout with its rival and when the dust settled, Ohio had snapped a three-game losing skid to the Keystone Staters.
Still, it was nice to see the Penn State players fare extremely well. In addition to Drake, Garry Gilliam played tight end and looked very comfortable. Lineman Mark Arcidiacono threw several big blocks to help open up things for Pennsylvania’s ground game.
“This was definitely a great experience for me,” Arcidiacono said. “Their whole D-Line is basically going to Ohio State and there were a lot of great players. I never got to play against talent like that and I got to test myself out and I am really happy with how the game turned out. I think I did pretty well.”
In addition to Drake, Gilliam and Arcidiacono, another Penn State recruit, Jordan Hill, was set to play in the contest. But he tweaked his ankle during practice earlier in the week and was forced to watch from the sidelines.
“That was the first game I really watched because of an injury and I didn’t like that at all,” Hill said.
Top Moments: No. 10
In the countdown of our top moments of the year, the Penn State women’s soccer team captured another Big Ten title.
After winning the regular season title, the Penn State women’s soccer team defeated Minnesota, 2-1, in the Big Ten Tournament to capture its fifth championship. In the title tilt, Penn State fell behind 1-0 but bounced back with a goal from Emma Thomson to knot the game at 1-1. PSU would eventually score the game-winner in the 65th minute of play as Katie Schoepfer set up Danielle Toney with a beautiful pass. PSU keeper Alyssa Naeher did the rest and the Nittany Lions would hang on for the victory.
Toney and Naeher were named Big Ten Tournament Most Valuable Offensive and Defensive players.
“It feels great to finish out on top,” Penn State head coach Erica Walsh said. “We stepped up at the right time and players made big plays.”
Shawn Kersey was a welcome addition to the class of 2009. (Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Class of 2009: Shawney Kersey
A three-star wideout as rated by Rivals.com out of Woodbury, N.J., Kersey was one of multiple Nittany Lion commitments for the class of 2009 that needed a change of heart before picking Penn State.
After selecting Rutgers last June, the No. 13-ranked New Jersey prospect by Rivals.com stuck with his original decision until his close friend and fellow Rutgers commitment, Gerald Hodges, changed his mind and switched to Penn State in December.
Around the same time, Kersey made his official visit to Rutgers and came away feeling uneasy about his original commitment.
“Basically, I went to Rutgers for a visit, and I really didn’t fit in with the people,” Kersey said. “So I’m thinking that the next few years would be tough if I didn’t fit in with the people that were up there now. My mom and I kind of talked it over, and she requested that I check out Penn State. So when I was in school, she told me that she called Penn State, and they were still interested even though I was committed, and we went from there.”
Only a month later, it was Kersey who would wind up doing the exact same thing, making his verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions while on an official visit to Happy Valley the weekend of Jan. 16.
“The visit was great, when I came up there, I felt like I was at home,” Kersey said afterward. “Even though my mom was there, it felt like home, and I could picture myself being there for the next three, four, five years or whatever. I loved the people, Joe Paterno, I loved everything about Penn State.”
This past season, Kersey played mostly running back but was hindered by a concussion which forced him to sit out for three weeks.
Even so, he earned first team all-conference honors.
Chris Morelli is the award-winning editor of Blue White Illustrated, a weekly publication devoted to Penn State athletics. He is also a regular on “Sports Central,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com. This column does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of BWI’s writers or publisher.