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By Tom Ash, June 15, 2008

Last updated: Sunday, June 15, 2008 12:59 AM EDT

HERSHEY – When Parkland High School coach Jim Morgans began preparing the Pennsylvania side for the Big 33 Football Classic this week, he didn’t know what to make of his team.

“I thought either we were pretty bad on offense or they were pretty spectacular on defense,” said Morgans.

Lucky for Morgans, it was the latter.

The hometown defense did everything it could to hinder the visiting offense. It tallied seven sacks – four in the second half. It made two defensive stands inside the 5-yard line, including a broken-up pass in the final five seconds of the first half.

It recorded one blocked field goal, one blocked punt, two fourth-quarter interceptions, three passes deflected at the line of scrimmage.

And when the final horn sounded, it was enough for the Pa. squad to roll past Ohio 31-16 Saturday night at Hersheypark Stadium.

“About the middle of the week (at practice) I started to say, ‘I don’t care how good our offense is, this defense is pretty special,” added Morgans.

For Ohio, by the third quarter, it was just a battle to score points. The Pennsylvania defense held Ohio scoreless through the first half and, thanks to two touchdown passes from Pittsburgh Central Catholic quarterback Tino Sunseri, the Pa. team had a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

A 39-yard field goal from Manheim Twp.’s David Soldner and a 3-yard touchdown run by Bishop McDevitt’s Mike Jones helped extend the Pa. lead to 26 by halftime.

“(Those early points) were a big difference,” said Trinity offensive lineman R.J. Dill, who stifled an Ohio pass rush on the strong side, giving Sunseri enough time to find Aliquippa wideout Jonathan Baldwin for a 37-yard pass on Pennsylvania’s first offensive play of the game. “Guys like (Baldwin) made big plays for us, that helps.”

However, even Dill admitted the Pennsylvania defense deserved most of the credit Saturday.

Leading the Pennsylvania pass rush was Harrisburg defensive end Adrian Robinson, who picked up one and one-half sacks, a pass deflection and worked his way through the Ohio line to torment quarterback Zac Dysert all evening long.

“I’ve always had confidence in myself... our defense was just too good,” said Robinson. “(Our coaches) just made sure we had everything down pat, that’s one of the things that made us what we are today.”

Dysert hit his stride in the third quarter, connecting on 5-of-7 passes in Ohio’s second offensive series of the quarter.

In fact, all 50 yards gained by Ohio on that drive were provided either from Dysert’s arm or his legs. The series culminated in his touchdown pass to Michael Shaw to put the visitors on the board.

The Ohio defense managed to shut Pa. out in the third quarter and closed the gap to 24-10 on a Ben Buchanan 47-yard field goal with 10:18 remaining in the fourth.

But it didn’t take long for the home team to ice the game afterward. Gateway athlete Cameron Saddler broke free from the Ohio defense just one minute later, rushing 79 yards for Pennsylvania’s final touchdown of the evening.

From there, the defense kept getting it done for Pa. Easton defensive back Jarred Holley picked off two Dysert passes in the fourth quarter – one in the end zone – and, despite a late touchdown reception, Ohio couldn’t overcome its deficit.

NOTES: The win marked the third consecutive year Pennsylvania has defeated Ohio in the Big 33 Football Classic. ... Pa. is 9-7 against Ohio in the annual affair since 1993. ... Pennsylvania totaled 239 yards on offense – 129 passing, 110 rushing. ...Ohio recorded 217 yards of offense – 15 on the ground, 202 in the air.