By JOE SCALZO

scalzo@vindy.com

Almost eight months (and 50 degrees) after playing their final football game in a Boardman uniform, J.T. Moore and Chase Hammond will play their final game as teammates tonight in the Big 33 Classic at Hershey Park Stadium.

So, are they hugging and crying on each other’s shoulder?

“Nah, we’re cool about that,” Moore said, laughing. “But I was thinking about how, even though we’ve already graduated, this is the last time for high school stuff.

“We’re going off in different ways and this is our chance to show that people in the state of Ohio know how to play football.”

The Spartan standouts will join Warren Harding safety Mike Dorsey (a West Virginia recruit) and Lakeview running back Te Elias (Lake Erie College) on the Ohio team in the annual interstate rivalry game against Pennsylvania. Lakeview coach Tom Pavlansky will serve as Ohio’s head coach, while former Campbell coach Jeff Bayuk (now an assistant at Howland) will be an assistant.

“The Mahoning Valley is represented well,” said Pavlansky, who is coaching in the game for the first time. “This is an absolutely tremendous experience for everybody involved.

“This is going to be the best experience in their high school careers.”

Moore, a defensive end headed to Ohio State, also played with Hammond (WR, Wisconsin) in Ohio’s North-South game in April and they were teammates on the basketball team. But that doesn’t mean the rest of their Big 33 teammates are strangers.

“Most of the guys here played in the North-South game, either with me or against me, and we’ve got a real good team chemistry because we all know each other,” said Hammond. “We like to joke around and it makes it easy to play with guys you relate to. And the coaches aren’t acting like we’re about to play a 10-game season.

“They’re serious, but not to the point where we’re saying, ‘We don’t like these dudes.’ We’re having a good time with it.”

Every player is staying with a host family — 68 in all — and in addition to 12 practices, the players hear a variety of speakers and take part in a number of activities.

“During the week, we have these buddies who are mentally-challenged kids and it’s really cool to be around them,” said Hammond. “We’re throwing the football around and signing autographs and it teaches you how to help others, using the little power you have to help make things better.”

The Big 33 Classic, often called the “Super Bowl of High School Football,” began in 1957 and has featured future NFL standouts such as Tony Dorsett, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Orlando Pace and Ben Roethlisberger. Every Super Bowl has featured a player from the Big 33 game.

The permanent Ohio-Pennsylvania format began in 1993 and Pennsylvania holds a 9-8 edge in the series. The rules are slanted toward offense and teams are required to throw the ball at least 40 percent of the time.

“I’d like to predict we’re going to kick Pennsylvania butt, but I can’t say that until it goes down,” Hammond said. “They’ve got a great squad, too. We’ll find out what happens [tonight] but right now, it’s up for grabs.”

Pavlansky feels pressure to bring a victory back home, but he said he’s more focused on the experience than the result.

“You only get so many chances, if any at all, to represent this great state,” he said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we’re going to go out and do our best.

“Whatever happens, happens.”