FOOTBALL

Stupar makes mark at Big 33

By Jeff Rice

HERSHEY — Rob Stupar hadn't been on a football field in a game situation since late November. But during Saturday's Big 33 Football Classic, the recently graduated State College standout rarely came off the field.

Stupar

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• Big 33 Game: Ohio breaks three-game skid

Adding another chapter to his family’s ever-growing Big 33 tradition, Stupar made plays on offense, defense

and special teams as Pennsylvania lost a 38-31 thriller to Ohio in Hersheypark Stadium.

“I’m exhausted,” a grinning Stupar said after the game. “I went sometimes three ways out there. I was just busting my tail and whatever it takes for the team to get it done. That was it.”

Stupar, Centre County’s lone representative on Pennsylvania’s 34-man roster, made the team as a defensive end and played both end positions in the 5-2 front both teams are required to use. But he also saw time at fullback, the position he will play this fall at Youngstown State, and was a fixture on special teams.

“Rob’s a tough, hard-nosed kid and a very unselfish kid,” said Clearfield coach Tim Janocko, who led the Pennsylvania squad. “He’s a team member. He’s what it’s all about. Youngstown got a great player.”

Ohio’s players saw examples of Stupar’s high-energy style in all three phases of the game. In the first half, he stuffed speedy punt returner Michael Edwards, Jr., who is headed to Tennessee, just as Edwards was clicking into second gear.

At defensive end, the 6-foot, 235-pound Stupar helped keep Ohio quarterbacks Patrick Nicely and Austin Boucher consistently on the move. With Pennsylvania trailing 17-14 late in the second quarter, he came up with a big third-down play that got quarterback Curtis Drake and the offense the ball back, swooping in from the outside to bring down Ohio’s quarterback for a 15-yard loss.

“I was lined up on the tackle and I saw a real quick lane inside and decided to take it,” said Stupar, who led the Mid-Penn Conference with 12.5 sacks this past season as the Little Lions went 12-1 and advanced to the state Class AAAA quarterfinals, “and I gave the quarterback a quick ride.”

Pennsylvania took over with great field position after the ensuing punt and tied the score at 17-17 on a 29-yard field goal by Brandon McManus with a minute left in the half.

Late in the fourth quarter, Stupar the fullback helped complete Pennsylvania’s 14-point comeback, throwing a great clearout block as Drake went in from one yard out to tie the score at 31-31 with 2:21 left.

Ohio went on to win for the first time since 2005 when 275-pound fullback Adam Replogle plowed through the line with 20 seconds to play, but the final score was one of the only low points for the week for Stupar.

“The game was so much fun,” he said. “The momentum shifted basically every other minute. We didn’t know who was going to come out on top, but we all played our hardest, and it was awesome.”

Stupar’s father, Steve, who played in the 1976 Big 33 game, watched from the stands Saturday evening with a large group of family and friends. His older brothers, Jon (a former University of Virginia current Buffalo Bills tight end) and Nate (a 2007 Big 33 participant and current Penn State linebacker), roamed the Pennsylvania sideline.

“It just makes it that much better,” Stupar said.

Stupar and Pennsylvania linebacker Carson Sharbaugh of Wilmington, who made a key fourth-quarter interception Saturday, will play their next game for Youngstown State. But Stupar plans to stay connected with the rest of his one-game teammates as well.

“I made friends with all the guys,” he said. “It was such a wonderful week. It was so much fun getting to know them and we’ll keep in touch in the future.”