A trio of L-L League football standouts are set to represent Pennsylvania in Sunday's Big 33 Classic
May 22-Manheim Township and Hempfield are bitter rivals in every sport, especially on the football field.
So what about a pair of Blue Streaks' teammates and a Black Knights' player - blasphemy - on the same gridiron team?
Believe it.
When the 69th Big 33 Football Classic kicks off tonight at 6:30 at Cumberland Valley's Chapman Field in Mechanicsburg, Manheim Township quarterback Jack Kenneff and his go-to receiver, Daryus Dixon, and Hempfield kicker Brady Biscoe will be representing the Lancaster-Lebanon League for Pennsylvania.
"A huge honor," Kenneff said. "This is a big deal and it means a lot. I definitely recognize the prestige and the history of this game."
Kenneff had a whopper of a senior season behind center last fall for the Streaks, completing 160 of 237 passes for 2,130 yards with 25 touchdown passes, plus six TD keepers on the ground, as Manheim Township captured the Section 1 title and went to the District 3 Class 6A semifinals.
Dixon hauled in 59 catches for 1,138 yards - an explosive 19.3 yards per reception - with a league-leading 16 TD grabs last fall. He also intercepted six passes from his defensive back position.
Kenneff, Dixon and Biscoe all earned multiple all-star awards for their success on the field last fall.
"It feels surreal," Dixon said of his invite. "It's exciting and it's something I didn't expect. This means everything to me."
Dixon was a late addition to Pennsylvania's roster; he played for the victorious East team in the PSFCA East-West Big School Game last week. He caught two passes for 19 yards and he was in on a pair of tackles.
Biscoe is making a little history; he's the first player from Hempfield to make a Big 33 roster.
"Thrilled and honored," Biscoe said. "I'm just happy I got picked, and that I'm getting the chance to do this."
Biscoe drilled four field goals last fall, including a 37-yarder in Hempfield's head-turning nonleague win over eventual District 3 Class 5A semifinalist Exeter.
Biscoe had to survive a tryout after last season to make the team. Big 33 officials have the kickers and punters go through a tryout session in the dome at Spooky Nook. Biscoe was one of the last three kickers standing after kickoff and field goal competitions.
He ended up getting the call.
"In this day and age, Brady is a rarity," Hempfield coach George Eager said. "He's a full-time kicker, but he acted like a position player for us. He went to winter lifts. He went to spring lifts. He went to summer lifts.
"Sometimes with kickers it's just coming out here or there, or just showing up in the fall. But he did everything. And he had a major leg for us."
Biscoe's older brothers, Cannon and Spencer, also kicked for Hempfield. Their little brother is heading to the Big 33.
"I have those bragging rights," Brady said, chuckling.
Kenneff is the fourth quarterback from Manheim Township to make a Big 33 roster, joining Luke Emge, Evan Clark and Hayden Johnson.
"It's kind of insane when you think about that," Kenneff said. "If you would have told me back at the start of the year that I'd be in the same conversation with those guys, and getting to play in the Big 33 ... I don't know what I would have said. To be remembered with those guys is truly amazing."
"It's a remarkable thing," Manheim Township coach Mark Evans said about sending four quarterbacks to the Big 33.
"We've had a pretty good run, and I'm excited about all the kids we've had. To be a quarterback at any level, you can't dabble in it. You have to eat it, drink it, sleep it. You have to put the time in.
"The quarterbacks who have been successful here - like Jack - week in and week out, year in and year out, have been the kids who have invested the time. He earned it. Period. End of story. He put in the time. He waited his turn and he was our next man up. He never took his foot off the gas."
The end result was an invite to play in the Big 33, as Kenneff juggles a busy recruiting phase. He's contemplating playing both football and baseball - his other love - in college. He's currently exploring all of his options.
Kenneff and Dixon will get to play one final game of pitch and catch together.
"He's phenomenal," Kenneff said about his favorite target this past season.
"I knew when I threw it up there to him, he was going to come down with it. Even if I threw a 3-yard screen pass to him, I knew he was going to dance and truck people and make them miss, and take it 50 yards to the house. He was our spark plug."
"We were a really good duo at Manheim Township," Dixon said. "He knows where to put the ball. He knows all of our routes. He knows when I'm going to be open. We had a big connection, so hopefully we can do that in the Big 33 game."
While playing with - not against - one of their rivals from their L-L League days in Biscoe.
"Manheim Township will always have a special place in my heart," Kenneff said, "so to get to rep the school one last time in this game is pretty awesome."
------
X: @JeffReinhart77
More LNP L-L League football coverage
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.