Kind of a 'Big' deal
When Madden Patrick sat in the bleachers watching his sister cheer for Team Pennsylvania in the Big 33 game in 2021, he made it a goal that day to play quarterback in the same event.
The Danville hurler, only in eighth grade then, had no idea about the Big 33 beforehand. He took in the action and atmosphere of the "Super Bowl of high school football," and came away wanting to ensure that he was the one on the field if he returned.
Mission accomplished.
After passing for a school-record 7,576 yards and 97 touchdowns, Patrick got the call from coach Carl Majer in January while eating lunch with some teammates in assistant coach Shawn Sheptock's learning support classroom, informing him that he was selected for the highly touted all-star game.
"I went into a side room and [Majer] told me the news," Patrick said. "I didn't boast about it and didn't actually tell any of my friends or teammates about it until it was actually announced [publicly]."
Patrick, who threw for a District 4 record 3,315 yards and 48 touchdowns in his junior year, even kept the news away from his family until it got close to the time he committed to playing football at East Stroudsburg University in early February. When the timing was right, Patrick said his parents, Ryan Patrick and Jonna Hockenbrough, were "thrilled." They all got to thinking back to when his sister Marleigh, who screamed with excitement over the phone when she got the news, cheered at the event that has had an alum play in every Super Bowl — most recently Jahan Dotson (2018) and AJ Woods (2019) — including Southern Columbia's Henry Hynoski.
The two-time all-state player hasn't been informed of any playing time scenarios as he is one of two QBs listed on the team's roster, joining Pittsburgh Central Catholic's Jy'Aire Walls. Regardless, Patrick, who lifts before school and throws on weekends, including routes with his younger brother Macon and Danville grads Carson Persing and Aaron Johnson, will handle the gametime situation like it's business as usual.
"I'm excited for the opportunity, but I'm going to go about this like it's another high school game — I was always cool, calm and collected," he said. "Once I step on the field, everything silences out. My mindset is, 'It's another day in the office and I have to do my job.'"
He works on that mindset continuously with his speed coach, Josh Kleha, and quarterback coach, Charlie Fisher, who served in the role at Penn State under Bill O'Brien. It helped him achieve something no Ironman football player has done since receiver Straughn Lumpkin in 1989: Get selected for the Big 33.
"Representing Pa. is a big honor," Patrick said. "It's pretty legit with the best of Pennsylvania taking on the best of Maryland. It's kind of like taking on a big-time collegiate game. There's tailgating with people wearing clothes to represent their teams. This is a game I wanted to take part in."
He'll do more than that. Avoiding the travel from Danville to Mechanicsburg all this week, Patrick will get to take in the whole experience, staying with host family Chris and Cori Davis. Cori is also a Danville grad, along with her brother, Mike Finn, who played football for the Ironmen and Villanova. Patrick stays with them from Wednesday to Saturday, coming home today to play in the District 4 Class 4A baseball championship.
Otherwise, the first local player since Mount Carmel's defensive end Eric Joraskie in 2013 to play in the Big 33 will be focused solely on football when the game kicks off on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Cumberland Valley.
Huskies tie-ins
Patrick won't be the only local tie-in on the field, as he will be guided by a pair of Bloomsburg University grads, Joe Headen and Jim McCarroll. The duo played football for the Huskies in the 90s, having played together for three years from 1990 to 1992.
Headen was a former linebacker for the Huskies, who currently coaches at Susquehanna Township. McCarroll, meanwhile, coaches at Pocono Mountain West and was a defensive back for Bloomsburg University. Both coaches are entering their 24th years at the helm this fall.
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