When Wisconsin recruit A.J. Fenton of Erie McDowell was injured during a practice about a week prior to the Big 33 Classic high school football all-star game, the Pennsylvania team needed a replacement.

Central Catholic graduate and Shaler resident Sam Loughrey was happy to oblige.

Loughrey, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound linebacker who will play at Lehigh University, was called on to fill in and take part in the prestigious game, which has more than half a century of tradition.

"I had no idea," Loughrey said. "It was a great honor, a great experience."

Although Loughrey was part of a Pennsylvania team that lost to Ohio, 38-31, he was proud to participate in the game. When the Pennsylvania coaching staff learned Fenton would not be able to play, officials began attempting to contact Loughrey last Monday, five days before the game was to be played at Hersheypark Stadium.

He couldn't be reached until Tuesday, three days after the Pennsylvania team started practicing in Hershey.

"I packed my bags and got up there as fast as I could," Loughrey said. "It ended up being tons of fun. All of us -- the guys from Pennsylvania -- got along together great. We played against great competition."

Loughrey was a PG East Fabulous 22 selection after this past season. He was a first-team selection to the WPIAL Class AAAA All-Big East Conference team and played a key role on the Vikings' 2007 WPIAL and PIAA championship teams.

"He's an outstanding football player," Central Catholic coach Terry Totten said. "He's one of the great tacklers who has ever played at Central Catholic. He's a very ferocious, downhill-type of get-after-it kind of kid."

Defense has been a strong suit of the Vikings the past few seasons, and Loughrey has been one of the main reasons why. Central Catholic had three shutouts last season and allowed only a combined total of 12 points in three PIAA playoff victories at the end of the 2007 season.

One of the lone constants for the Vikings' defense in that time was Loughrey, whose textbook tackling made him a perfect fit for his position.

"I have been playing linebacker my whole life," Loughrey said. "The coaches [at Central Catholic] definitely help out a lot. Part of it is just instinct just to become a good tackler, just practicing, getting better at it, knowing your reads, being in the right position.

"Historically, there have been a lot of great linebackers who went to Central before me, so I just learned from them and tried to fill the spot."

Totten was pleased Loughrey was able to showcase his talents on a stage such as the Big 33.

"Absolutely, he's very deserving and has been a model Central kid," Totten said. "The last five, six, seven years, we've been fortunate enough to send some players to Division I football, and he certainly ranks up there with any of them."

Lehigh plays at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) level. Loughrey said he chose Lehigh, a member of the Patriot League, for academic and athletic reasons.

"As soon as I went up there, I knew it was the right fit for me," said Loughrey, who will study the business field in college. "It became an easy choice."

"I think it's a great fit for him," Totten said.

The Big 33 was only the most recent football game Loughrey traveled to the eastern side of the state to play, having been on the same Hersheypark Stadium field 18 months previously to win a PIAA title.

There figure to be many more memorable trips east while playing at Lehigh the next four seasons, but it's safe to say Loughrey won't forget playing in the Big 33 game.

"We all had a good time together up there. The players all shared the common experience of having the love of football," Loughrey said. "We hung out and became buddies."