Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press Pennsylvania's Elijah Fields, a Pitt recruit from Duquesne, stiff-arms Ohio's Brad Brookbank last night in the first half of the Big 33 football game in Hershey, Pa. Click photo for larger image.

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Many of the top high school football players in Ohio were not at the Big 33 Football Classic last night. They were playing in an all-star game in their state.

Good thing for the Pennsylvania All-Stars. For two-and-a-half quarters, they had enough trouble with the Ohio players who did show up for the Big 33 at Hersheypark Stadium.

Then, just about the time all the night lights came on at Hersheypark amusement park next door, Pennsylvania flipped its switch to "on." Pennsylvania came back with a record-breaking performance and defeated Ohio, 61-42, before 14,043.

Pennsylvania scored 47 points in the final 19 minutes. It was the most points scored by a team in 49 years of the Big 33. The previous record was 45, by Ohio in 1996 and by Texas in 1967. It was also the most points scored by both teams.

"Ohio had good players. I don't know if our guys realized that or not," said Neshaminy coach Mark Schmidt, Pennsylvania's head coach. "But Ohio got our attention. Then we settled down and played."

And how ironic that, in a game with "Big" in its moniker, the smallest player on Pennsylvania's roster turned out to be a star. Gateway High School's David Williams, a 5-foot-9, 165-pound receiver and a Michigan State recruit, won MVP honors. He had three receptions of 38, 25 and 22 yards and all went for touchdowns. He also returned two kickoffs for 45 yards and two punts for 11 yards.

"All these kids chirped all week in practice," said Peabody's Bob Flaus, who as a Pennsylvania assistant. "Some of them came out and walked the walk. He was one of them."

Maybe no one should be surprised by Williams' "big" performance. He caught 21 passes for 600 yards as a senior at Gateway and scored 19 touchdowns that averaged 48 yards.

"I just did what I usually do," Williams said. "I just wanted to get my name out there to people."

It was a good night for Gateway. Besides Williams, Harvey Smith Sr., the father of Gateway coach Terry Smith, won a new SUV in a raffle.

Ohio's MVP was quarterback-receiver Derrell Johnson, an Iowa recruit from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney High. He rushed 15 times for 138 yards, completed 3 of 8 passes for 118 yards and one touchdown and caught a 39-yard touchdown pass.

Pennsylvania trailed by a touchdown at halftime and fell behind, 28-14, in the third quarter. Then Ohio played giveaway -- and Pennsylvania pulled away. Ohio turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions in the third quarter, and Pennsylvania turned each miscue into points.

WPIAL players led the comeback. Besides Williams, Duquesne's Elijah Fields, a Pitt recruit, intercepted two passes, returned one 68 yards for a touchdown and had a team-high seven tackles. Quarterback Connor Dixon of South Park, a Michigan State recruit, completed 4 of 7 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored on a 56-yard run.

"I think we came out thinking we were going to run Ohio off the field because of the way they picked their team," Williams said. "But they played well. We just had to pick it up in the second half."

Downingtown East quarterback Pat Devlin (Penn State) was intercepted on the second play of the game by Liberty's Kyle Endicott (Ashland), who returned it 35 yards to the 21. Copley running back Delone Carter (Syracuse) scored a touchdown on the next play. Carter, Mr. Football in Ohio this season, finished with 115 yards rushing on 10 attempts.

Devlin, who finished 4 of 7 for 119 yards, was intercepted on Pennsylvania's next possession.