Pennsylvania starting center Nick Redden gets a drink on the sidelines during the Big 33 Classic on Saturday night at Hersheypark Stadium. Redden, a Clearfield graduate, was in on every offensive play in the game for Pennsylvania as center and long snapper. Ohio topped Pennsylvania, 38-31. (Photo by Jim Butler)

That proved to be the difference as Ohio snapped a three-game losing streak to Pennsylvania, beating it 38-31 in one of the closest Classics in recent memory.

With the game tied at 17, Penn State-bound Curtis Drake led Pennsylvania 79 yards to the Ohio 1-yard line before coughing up the ball on a quarterback sneak short of the goal line.

Ohio made Pennsylvania pay on the very next play as quarterback Austin Boucher found receiver Micah Hyde between three defenders at the 25-yard line.

Hyde did the rest, winning a foot race to the end zone to give Ohio a 24-17 lead after a Nate Freese extra point.

"That fumble hurt us," Pennsylvania head coach Tim Janocko said. "We would have gone up 24-17, but that happened and then bang, they get seven. But that's football. Those things happen."

The visitors extended the lead to 31-17 with eight seconds left in the third on Fitzgerald Toussaint's 6-yard scoring dash.

But Pennsylvania responded with 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to knot things at 31-31 with a little over two minutes remaining.

The hosts took advantage of an Ohio miscue when quarterback Patrick Nicely didn't see PA's Carson Sharbaugh in the passing lane. Sharbaugh picked off Nicely at the Ohio 15 and returned the ball to the 5-yard line.

Pennsylvania scored three plays later on a 1-yard plunge from Lyle Marsh to pull within a touchdown of the lead, 31-24.

Ohio moved the ball as far as the PA 39-yard line on the next series, but couldn't get any farther and punted the ball away.

Pennsylvania set up shop at its own 11-yard line and went on a Drake-led 89-yard drive.

Drake, who was named the Pennsylvania MVP, hit West Catholic High teammate Rob Hollomon for a 43-yard gain on a wheel route to convert a third-and-10 from the 11.

Several plays later, Drake found soon-to-be Nittany Lion teammate Garry Gilliam streaking down the sideline. The pair connected for a 33-yard gain that ended with Gilliam being brought down at the 1-yard line. Drake scored on the next play to tie the score.

Drake rushed for a game-high 88 yards on 17 carries and added 166 yards through the air.

But Boucher, who was named the Ohio MVP had too much time to play with and directed his team downfield 80 yards for the winning score.

Boucher, who torched the Pennsylvania defense for 253 yards on 18-of-25 passing actually burned his opponents with his feet on the final drive.

On second-and-10 from the Ohio 41, Boucher was pressured out of the pocket but found an opening right down the middle of the field. He scampered 50 yards to the Pennsylvania 9.

Three plays later, defensive lineman-turned fullback Adam Replogle crashed into the end zone from a yard out to give his team a 38-31 lead with just 20 seconds left.

Ohio ran the no-huddle offense the entire game. Boucher and Nicely combined to throw for 388 yards, completing 28 of 40 pass attempts. The visitors did not have positive yardage on the ground until Boucher broke off his big run. Until then, Ohio had run the ball 18 times for (-9) yards.

"They had some athletes," Janocko said. "They ran the no-huddle the whole game. We were prepared for that. We had six defensive backs, and were trying to rotate them and keep them fresh. And then it ended up with the quarterback making a big run."

Holloman, who was huge on kickoff returns all game long gave Pennsylvania a chance when he brought the ensuing kick back 49 yards to the Ohio 38.

But Drake overthrew Devin Street on a corner route on one play, then had a pass bounce off two receivers in the end zone on the final play of the game.

"It was exciting," Janocko said. "The fans got their money's worth. Obviously I would have liked to have been on the other side of the scoreboard, but the kids did everything they could do. Ohio had a great football team, and our kids scrapped and clawed and played great the whole game. That's all I can ask for.

"We battled. We made plays when we had to make plays, and the kids did a great job. We just couldn't stop them there at the end."

Pennsylvania scored on its initial drive, going 39 yards in four plays after Holloman's 59-yard kickoff return set it up in Ohio territory. Holloman had kick returns of 59, 56 and 49 yards in the game. He finished with 203 yards on five returns.

Drake had a 24-yard run in the series and Holloman followed with a 14-yard run before Marsh punched it in from the 1.

Clearfield's Nick Redden had a key block on Drake's run.

"We broke that big run for quite a few yards ... that felt great," Redden said. "I knew that was one of the best guys from Ohio that I was going up against, and I helped open up that hole. Going against these guys really put in perspective where I stand."

Redden played every down at center and also served as the team's long snapper on kicks and punts. He was one of few players to be on the field for every Pennsylvania snap.

"Nick played unbelievable," Janocko said. "He belonged here. He should have been here right from the beginning, and there is no question he played a heck of a football game. He was playing against Ohio's best, and he had a great game. Duquesne should be really happy with what they got."

The whole Big 33 experience is one that Redden, who was named to the team as a replacement after Justin Pugh got injured, says he will never forget.

"This was a great experience, being around guys of this caliber," he said. "It wasn't easy to come in here and be the new guy. When I came in the back of my jersey still said Pugh. So I was called Pugh all week by all the guys.

"I was surprised at how quickly the team came together, and I made a lot of lifetime friends here. It was a shame we couldn't come out on the other end of this."

NOTES: The 99-yard Boucher-to-Hyde connection is the longest touchdown and longest play from scrimmage in Big 33 history ... Marsh rushed for 44 yards on nine carries, while Holloman ran seven times for 34 yards ... Drake completed eight passes to six different receivers ... Ohio had a pair of 100-yard receivers in Hyde and Shaun Joplin. Hyde, an Iowa recruit, caught five passes for 135 yards. Joplin caught eight balls for 104 yards ... Both Ohio quarterbacks are heading to Mid-American Conference schools. Boucher is going to Miami (Ohio) while Nicely will play at Akron ... Drake and Gilliam were joined by fellow Penn State recruits Jordan Hill of Steel High and Mark Arcidiacono of St. Joesph's Prep on the Pennsylvania squad.

Ohio 38   Pennsylvania 31

Score By Quarters
Ohio                        7            10        14          7-38
Pennsylvania            7            10          0        14-31

First Quarter
PA-Marsh 1 run, (McManus kick), 10:52.
OH-Toussaint 46 pass from Nicely, (Freese kick), 5:01.

Second Quarter
OH-Freese 42 field goal, 10:30.
OH-Joplin 35 pass from Boucher, (Freese kick), 7:13.
PA-Drake 1 run, (McManus kick), 6:44.
PA-McManus 29 field goal, 1:00.

Third Quarter
OH-Hyde 99 pass from Boucher, (Freese kick), 6:16.
OH-Toussaint 6 run, (Freese kick), 0:08.

Fourth Quarter
PA-Marsh 1 run, (McManus kick), 7:33.
PA-Drake 1 run, (McManus kick), 2:21.
OH-Repogle 1 run, (Freese kick), 0:20.

TEAM STATISTICS            OH                          PA
Total First Downs           15                    15
Rushes-Yards               22-50                38-163
Comp-Att-Int                28-40-1             8-23-1
Passing Yards               388                   166
Total Plays-Yards          62-438              65-329
Fumbles-Lost                2-1                   3-2
Punts-Avg                     3-35                 3-34
Penalties-Yards             7-40                 9-69

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Ohio-Boucher 7-44, Toussaint 5-18, Gill 2-4, Repogle 1-1, Hyde 1-(-2), Nicely 5-(-5), Team 1-(-10).
Pennsylvania-Drake 17-88, Marsh 9-44, Holloman 7-34, Capello 5-(-3).

Passing
Ohio-Boucher 18-of-25, 253 yds., 2 TD; Nicely 10-of-15, 135 yds.,1 TD, 1 Int.
Pennsylvania-Drake 8-of-19, 166 yds.; Capello 0-of-4, 1 Int.

Receiving
Ohio-Joplin 8-104, Fields 8-31, Hyde 5-135, Gill 3-14, Jones 2-45, Toussaint 1-46, Ashford Jr. 1-13.
Pennsylvania-Generett 2-37, Street 2-29, Holloman 1-43, Gilliam 1-33, Schademan 1-17, DeCicco 1-7.