A District 10 Region 2 co-Player of the Year, Eisenhower’s Benji Bauer, will be one of the more high-profile offensive pieces in the Big 30 on Saturday. Times Observer file photo

Ellicottville’s Gian Nuzzo and Eisenhower’s Benji Bauer will be starting at two of the more high-profile offensive positions when New York and Pennsylvania meet for the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic at 7 p.m. Saturday at Bradford High School.

Nuzzo, a Section VI Class D co-Offensive Player of the Year his senior year with the Franklinville/Ellicottville Titans, ran for 925 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 35 passes for 592 yards and eight touchdowns to lead his team to the sectional final at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, last fall.

Bauer, a District 10 Region 2 co-Player of the Year his senior year with the Knights, ran for 2,067 yards and 24 touchdowns while catching 14 passes, including another touchdown. Eisenhower’s undefeated season came to an end with a 28-14 loss to Reynolds in the District 10 Class 1A final last November.

For the New York team, Gowanda/Pine Valley’s Ben Krajewski and Franklinville/Ellicottville’s Tyler Gibas will be joined on the starting offensive line by Cuba-Rushford’s Clifford Karn, Olean’s Lucas Brushingham and Portville’s Kyran Johnson.

Southwestern’s Chris Miller and Allegany-Limestone’s Gabe Ramadhan are listed as the starting wide receivers while Nuzzo’s starting backfield includes running backs Kyle Stover of Pioneer and Dominic Bello of Cuba-Rushford. Olean’s Cade Anastasia is also listed with the starting offense.

“It’s challenging as a coach because these kids are athletic, mentally they’re football smart and their eyeballs are wide open,” New York head coach Terry Gray said Wednesday night. “They are ready to absorb however much you have to give them. As a coach, you really have to bring your ‘A’ game.”

Eisenhower head coach Jim Penley and his assistants are leading the Pennsylvania team for the third time.

Pennsylvania’s starting offensive backfield will be Port Allegany quarterback Drew Evens in front of Bauer and Coudersport’s Xander Brown. The starting wide receivers will be Elk County Catholic’s Joe Tettis and Cameron County’s Brevin Lewis with Port Allegany’s Noah Archer also in the skilled-position mix.

Eisenhower’s Conner Younger will center Pennsylvania’s starting offensive line that includes Coudersport’s Cooper Rossman, St. Marys’ Carter Price, Otto-Eldred’s Isaac Shaw and Ridgway/Johnsonburg’s Marcus Crowe.

“We’ve been game planning every night. To me, this isn’t just an all-star game, it’s an opportunity to prove what our coaching skills are,” said Gray, who coached in the leadup to the 2012 game before missing the game due to an illness, and coached the 2014 New York team. “We are matching up with Pennsylvania and the coach from Eisenhower, who is an excellent coach.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Cattaraugus-Little Valley’s Raiden Terhune, Olean’s Chris Bargy, Southwestern’s Matt Burlingame and Pioneer’s Dakota Krygier are listed as starters along New York’s line while the linebackers are Franklinville/Ellicottville’s Brad John and Ben Brol centered by Portville’s Caiden Zollinger.

Starting defensive backs for New York are Pioneer’s Walker Bekiel, Salamanca’s Jason McGraw, Portville’s Ben Isaman and Allegany-Limestone’s Anthony DeCapua.

“These kids know the basics,” said Gray, who will be joined by Frewsburg assistants Rob Collver, Adam Loftus, Trent Gray and Brendan Carter on the sideline Saturday. “They are ready to learn and do everything you tell them.”

Defensively, Pennsylvania will roll out a starting trio of Warren County graduates up front with Sheffield’s Matthew Lobdell and Gage Mott-Macalush playing alongside Eisenhower’s Mike Vanatta. The other starting defensive lineman will be Smethport’s Ryan Pelchy.

Eisenhower’s Caleb Penley, Elk County Catholic’s David Anderson and Port Allegany’s Gavin Burgess will start at linebacker for Pennsylvania with Kane’s Landon Darr, Bradford’s Troy Adkins, Eisenhower’s Garrett Jensen and Otto-Eldred’s Brendan Magee in the defensive backfield.

New York reserves along the offensive line include Franklinville/Ellicottville’s Koda Curtis, Cattaraugus-Little Valley’s Hunter McInerney, Pioneer’s Mateo Rodriguez and Southwestern’s William Hoden. Frewsburg’s Patrick Spencer and Draven DeJesus, Allegany-Limestone’s Andrew Giardini, Pioneer’s Devin Matuszak, Franklinville/Ellicottville’s Christian Swalcy and Allegany-Limestone’s Eric Furlong round out the backups at the skilled positions.

Reserves on the defensive side of the ball for New York include Allegany-Limestone’s Jake Parris and Salamanca’s Jaxon Tarr up front, Cuba-Rushford’s Haven Kellogg and Allegany-Limestone’s Ahren Faller at linebacker, and Pioneer’s Maverick Cass and Allegany-Limestone’s Jacob Herbert in the backfield.

Reserves on offense for Pennsylvania will include Kane’s Lucas Burrs and Aaron Smith, Smethport’s Hayden Leet, St. Marys’ Clay Grazioli and Coudersport’s David Barshinger up front, St. Marys’ quarterback Charlie Coudriet, Kane’s Ricky Zampogna and Port Allegany’s Blaine Moses in the backfield, and Elk County Catholic’s Scott Szymanski, and St. Marys’ Logan Mosier and Carter Chadsey at the remainder of the skilled positions.

Reserves for the Pennsylvania defense will include Smethport’s Keegan Watson and Bradford’s Alex Gangloff up front, Cameron County’s Jameson Britton, Kane’s Addison Plants and Cameron County’s Eyan Smith at linebacker, and Smethport’s Aiden McKean and Otto-Eldred’s Blaze Maholic in the backfield.

Each team has its final practice today — New York at Allegany-Limestone High School and Pennsylvania at Coudersport High School.

“It’s so much fun coaching,” Gray said. “The game is just a bonus.”

Although this is the 50th anniversary of the first Big 30 game, it will only be the 49th game to be played after the 2020 contest was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pennsylvania holds a one-game lead with an all-time record of 23-22-3 after beating New York 27-13 last summer.

“We’re down one game and it’s the 50th anniversary, but to be honest I don’t feel that pressure,” Gray said. “I couldn’t think of a better way for it to end, but of course I’m going to miss it.”