Bob Westerlund was pleased to be spending much of this week with people who had plenty in common with him.

The Penn-Trafford graduate will play in the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association East-West All-Star Game at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Mansion Park Stadium. Sixty-eight of the top players from Pennsylvania will play in the game.

"It's a bunch of guys; they all love football," Westerlund said Monday by phone from Altoona, Pa. "They all pretty much were the best on their team in high school and are going to play in college, from Division I to Division III. It's been fun being up here, actually."

Westerlund, 6 feet 1, 210 pounds, is a linebacker and will play at Division II Slippery Rock University. He also was a standout wide receiver for the Warriors.

"I'm very honored and privileged to be selected to play in this game," he said. "Other than the Big 33, this is one of the best all-star games in the state. You've got 33 guys from the west playing 33 top guys from the east. It's good competition."

Westerlund was a three-year starter on defense at Penn-Trafford and made an impact on offense his junior and senior seasons.

Westerlund led the team with 279 receiving yards last season and scored two touchdowns for a Warriors team that qualified for the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs.

Westerlund also played tight end in high school and was a team captain his senior season.

"He's a great kid, a hard worker and a good student," former Penn-Trafford coach Art Tragesser said. "Around the school, people like him because he was a good kid."

Westerlund's only complaint about the East-West game doesn't have anything to do with the organization, but the rules of the game. In an effort to limit injuries, blitzing is not allowed and Westerlund said the West will play a "5-2" defense.

An outside linebacker throughout his career, Westerlund's biggest attribute is his ability to make plays using his athleticism.

"They have to play me inside and you can't blitz, so that's not real fun," Westerlund said. "You just have got to basically be just like a cornerback in the middle of the field. Wherever the running back goes, I've got him.

"I've always been more like a rush end, an outside player. I've never played inside from way back to midgets. I'm not the biggest guy to be an inside-type of linebacker. But it's still been a lot of fun here."

Westerlund said he is eager to learn as much as he can from the collection of head coaches on the West's staff in an effort to better prepare himself for playing at the college level. Yough's Jim Wehner is one of them.

Westerlund said he is committed to following the conditioning and workout plan the coaches at Slippery Rock have laid out for him this summer. He leaves for training camp at Slippery Rock the first week of August.

He said the Rock coaches were the biggest reason he chose the college.

"Basically, it wasn't like a business," Westerlund said. "Cal U [California University of Pennsylvania] wanted me just for football, and that's not what I'm trying to look for. If I was trying to go pro, I'd go to Cal U, but I liked the coaches [at Slippery Rock] talking about academics first. What I want to do is physical therapy and Slippery Rock actually has a great program for that there. Their physical therapy there is nationally ranked. It kind of just all fell into place."