For those who can't wait for high school football to start, there is a solution.
On Saturday, five Warren County athletes will take part in the Big 30 Don Raabe Charities Football Classic, a charity all-star game between Pennsylvania and New York, at 7 p.m., at Parkway Field in Bradford.
The annual game has raised over 1.4 million dollars for charities throughout the Big 30 area.
Article Photos
Christian Bundy and Aaron Niemeyer
This year, Pennsylvania has turned to Sheffield native and Kane Area High School football coach Jason Barner to lead its players. With over 16 years of coaching experience under his belt, the players are in good hands.
"To be able to be a part of the game is an honor with what the game stands for," said Barner, a Sheffield High School graduate. "It's an honor to be able to coach these kids. We are pretty excited to have this opportunity, that's for sure."
While he hasn't coached football in Warren County for a while, most of his players were familiar to him.
"I've coached against a lot of these kids, so I know them," Barner explained, "and then some of these kids I know their parents. I actually knew about 95 percent of them."
"For these kids, it's one last chance to play," he said. "The history of the game is tremendous and some of these kids have people in the family that have played. It's really special for these guys to be a part of that."
One example is Youngsville High School graduate Christian Bundy, whose brother, Zach, played for Pennsylvania in 2004. Christian will wear the same jersey number as his brother did - No. 83.
Although no athletes from Sheffield are in the game, Warren, Youngsville and Eisenhower will have representatives.
Warren will be sending out the one-two punch of fullback T.J. Latimer and tight end Andrew Morrison, and while it's the last time playing football for many of the athletes in the Big 30 game, this is just a taste of more is to come for the duo playing for the Division II Mercyhurst Lakers in the fall.
"It's really cool to be able to play one last high school game with (T.J.) before we go to college," said Morrison. "I'm playing offense in this game, but defense in college. Hopefully this will still be a springboard to the next level."
"It's the experience of getting to strap on pads one last time as a high school senior before moving on and playing that makes this special," said Latimer.
Neither Morrison nor Latimer are taking the role lightly.
"It's an honor, for sure," said Morrison. "It's a little disappointing that it's only me and T.J., but since it's just us, we have to make sure we do well."
This isn't just an exhibition game to T.J.
"You have to look at it as your last football game," he said. "You want to play your hardest and you want to be as fast and physical and you can be."
While the Big 30 team is much different from regular games in the fact that you have only two weeks to practice before the game, Latimer says that two weeks has been well spent. "It was a little different the first couple of practices, but over the last week and a half we have really come together as a team and we have grown into really good friends."
Some of those new friends include defensive tackle Aaron Niemeyer and slot receiver Christian Bundy, who will be representing the Youngsville Eagles in the charity game.
"I'm so pumped about it," said Niemeyer. "Our team has been working our butts off. We are so ready to go."
For Niemeyer, this game is a shot at redemption. After missing his final two high school football games because of a car crash, this will give him one last shot on the field before he hangs up the pads for good.
"I'm not suiting up again," he said, "This is it. There is nothing else, I'm ready to give 100 percent and I think it's going to have a huge impact. It's a huge honor to have my coaches nominate me for this and I thank them every day."
This will be Bundy's last game as well, but he has a lot to play for, as he is the second Bundy to throw on the red Pennsylvania jersey.
Eisenhower's sole representation, Zack Hitchcock will also be following in a family member's footsteps as he takes the field on Saturday.
"My dad played in the Big 30 back in the day, now it's my turn," he said. "It's an honor to be able to go out and play with the all-stars."
For Hitchcock, this game will be his last game before hanging up the pads, but for now the pads are still on. Hitchcock, who will be filling gaps as a middle linebacker says, "I am pumped. I am so excited to play on Saturday."
After two weeks of practice, Barner has nothing but good things to say.
"They're doing great and they've been a joy to coach," he said. "Good kids, good athletes, hard workers, the whole nine yards. These kids show up at practices and work really hard, they are a really good representation of their communities; they are good kids.
"The preparation is in place, the kids will need to come out and play fast and physical, but that's what we've been preaching for two weeks," said Barner.
Last year, New York, which leads the series, 19-16-2, won a high-octane shoot-out, 46-27. Two years ago, a defensive slugfest ended with Pennsylvania on top, 13-6.
This time, Barner thinks the two teams will find a middle ground. "I don't know with the new defense, they put in the new 4-3 so it's hard to judge," he said. "In my opinion, it will be a mid-scoring game - defensively, you have more options now, but that means that they do, too."
The new defense will certainly affect the offensive game plan for both teams. In the past, the defenses have been restricted to an unconventional 5-2, but the new 4-3 is something that coaches are more familiar with, and that experience might make the defenses more exploitable.