George Guido: Big 33 Super Bowl streak still intact

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, January 22, 2019 | 7:06 PM

The Big 33-Super Bowl streak lives on.

With safety John Johnson III of the Los Angeles Rams and backup quarterback Brian Hoyer of the New England Patriots moving on to Atlanta for the big game, it means that all 53 Super Bowls have had at least one player who participated in the Big 33 Classic.

Johnson, who played for Maryland in the 2013 Big 33, made the overtime interception for Los Angeles, setting up the winning field goal.

Johnson played for Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Md.

Hoyer played in the 2004 game for Ohio, representing Cleveland’s St. Ignatius High School — or St. Iggy’s as the locals there refer to it.

This year’s Big 33 game will be played May 27 (Memorial Day) at 2 p.m. at Landis Stadium, Central Dauphin Middle School, outside of Harrisburg.

The Big 33 Pennsylvania roster will be disclosed Jan. 31 at 10 a.m.

8-man football

Are you ready for some 8-man football?

The PIAA on Wednesday is slated to act on a proposal by the Football Steering Committee to explore interest in 8-man football in the Keystone State.

If approved, a survey will be taken by district football chairmen to see if there is interest in their districts. The WPIAL also is known as PIAA District 7.

It’s no secret participation numbers are down — some at critical levels — throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley and the WPIAL.

Springdale had 17 players for some games this year. Riverview’s numbers were in the teens in 2017 and not much better in ’18.

Nearby Saltsburg forfeited a game to Ligonier Valley when only 18 players were scheduled to suit up. Saltsburg briefly considered dropping football, but a late-season assembly showed about 25 players committing to the Trojans in 2019, according to published reports.

Steel Valley won the WPIAL Class 2-A title Nov. 24 with 17 players in uniform. Class A contender Imani Christian was down to 16 players briefly this past season until some injured players returned.

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but 30 states are using football teams of fewer than 11, so here’s how eight-man football works:

On offense, two tackles and a skill position is eliminated.

On defense, two defensive backs and a lineman are eliminated.

States have the choice of reducing the field of play to 80 yards long and 40 yards wide. Most, however, keep the conventional 100 yards long and 53-1/3 yard-wide grids.

One thing that is found with eight-man football games is scores commonly in the 80s.

Eight-man football is most common in rural areas. But with the small, urban school districts that dot Western Pennsylvania’s older riverfront towns, eight-man teams wouldn’t be exclusive to the farmlands.

Highlands-Johnstown cancelled

The Highlands-Johnstown boys basketball game scheduled for Sunday in the Martin Luther King Weekend Showcase at Woodland Hills was cancelled and will not be made up.

Johnstown’s bus reportedly skidded downhill late Sunday morning, and school officials thought safety should prevail and cancelled its trip to Churchill.

It would have been a good test for Highlands, 9-4 going into Tuesday’s game against Yough. Johnstown is 14-0 in Class 5A.

The Golden Rams are having a tougher time scheduling games than actually winning games.

Highlands also lost a game when a school opted out of the Pine-Richland tip-off tourney.

Highlands athletic director Chuck Debor indicated it might be tough to find another game with the schedule being tight the rest of the regular season, which ends in less than three weeks.

Here’s a little-known fact: Johnstown was once a WPIAL basketball member school, making the playoffs in 1939.

George Guido is a Valley News Dispatch scholastic sports correspondent. His column appears Wednesdays.