SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - It was a night Frank Shubeck had looked forward to. And one that gave him a chance to reflect, and look back on a football career at Panther Valley that had shaped him into the person he has become.

The annual Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association All-Star Game gave Schubeck and other seniors the opportunity to savor one more game together on Wednesday at Schuylkill Haven’s Rotary Field.

It’s a tradition that has become a staple for seniors across the area, one that allows them to take the field with friends and former rivals.

“It’s great,” said Shubeck. “It’s just a great experience being able to get to know these guys more than just on the field. Creating relationships with them, and then playing against a group of other schools that I have also been playing my entire life.

“It was something I looked forward to, I always wanted to play in this game. It’s fun, as a senior, it’s the last chance to put on a helmet for some people.”

The format for the 2024 edition of the contest took on a new look. Rather than the traditional North vs. South arrangement, this year’s game displayed a Big School vs. Small School setup.

The Big School squad, which featured Shubeck’s Panther Valley along with players from Blue Mountain, North Schuylkill, Pine Grove, Pottsville and Tamaqua, took advantage of several big plays throughout the night to claim a 52-0 victory.

“This is a great opportunity,” said Blue Raiders quarterback Luke Kane. “You get to come out here and play one last time. Your regular season ends, your playoff season ends, and you get to come out here. These kids that you get to play with, you butt heads with them all year, you don’t like them out on the field, like they’re not your friends. But once you finally get to know them and they’re your teammates, everyone gels together and it’s an amazing opportunity. This was the most fun football game I think I’ve ever played.”

And it sure looked like it.

Kane connected with Pottsville standout wide receiver Tsirell Curry on the Big School’s first drive of the second half for a 26-yard score that made it 31-0 with 8:56 to play in the third quarter.

Blue Mountain star Gaige Guers, who was named MVP for the Big School side, had a 64-yard punt return for a TD to make it 14-0 in the second quarter.

“Guys like Gaige Guers, Tsirell Curry, those guys are quick, they’re elusive, they’re going to get up there as you see today, like Tsirell on that touchdown,” said Kane. “It’s amazing, because you really get to learn new positions, new people, new abilities. You don’t have those abilities all through your high school career, and then this game you do and it’s fun to experience it.

“We were drawing that play up all week at practice. He (Curry) said he wanted it. I saw him in press man, one-on-one. He’s going to go past any kid that guards him. I threw it up and that was awesome. We threw a lot of new stuff in this week and it was, it’s just a learning opportunity. It’s an amazing opportunity to be out here and actually do this.”

Tamaqua’s Tyler Koch scored from two yards out to make it 21-0 for the Big School squad with 8:34 left in the second period.

The Blue Raiders, and the seniors, led a strong season that ended with an Eastern Conference 3A title.

The same could be said for Marian, which advanced to the District 11 Class 1A semifinals under first-year head coach Billy O’Gurek, and played on the Small School Team – comprised of players from Mahanoy Area, Minersville, Nativity, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah, Tri-Valley and Williams Valley – Wednesday night.

“Marian taught me a lot,” said the Colts’ Michael Johnson. “They taught me like a ton of football skills but, also life skills, and how to be a man I am today and I’m very grateful for that, very grateful for my coaches. They do a lot for us.

“I hope that we set a good example for the underclassmen, and taught them to never give up. There were times we were the underdogs, but we proved we were better, like when we beat Minersville (20-14 in overtime in Week 6). That was a big game. On any given day, you can beat a team; it doesn’t matter how good they are, and we showed that.”

That mentality is one the players taking part in Wednesday’s annual all-star game hope the underclassmen at each of their respective schools carries forward into each new season.

“I just hope that they see the effort the seniors put in, and that they put in that same effort,” said Shubeck, who had a nice pass breakup on fourth down in the third quarter. “No matter what our record is, at the end of the day it’s the effort that you put in, and as long as you put in 110% every day, every game, that’s all you can do.”

SENIOR STANDOUTS ... Players from Marian selected to the Small School Team were Charles Hower, Chase Hower, Michael Johnson, Michael Gelatko and Aidan Milkovits. The players from Panther Valley on the Big School Team were Brennan Kunkel, who had a fumble recovery Wednesday, Frank Shubeck, Clinton Dyer, Michael Williams and Zack Seifert. They were joined on the winning Big School squad by Luke Kane, Victor Schlosser, Jacob Hehn, Bradley Whalen, Tyler Koch and Declan Coleman.