Grassi

TV time

The game will air live on Renda Media, out of Indiana, on YouTube TV on Friday night. The link to the game can be found with this story on the Mirror’s website.

Penn Cambria reached the PIAA Class 3A state football semifinals for the second straight season last November, and those kinds of on-the-field team accomplishments bring with them plenty of honors and recognition for coaches and players.

For the second straight summer, a Penn Cambria coach will be serving as a head coach in the Ken Lantzy All-Star Classic football game, which unveils its 55th chapter on Friday night at Greater Johnstown High School’s Trojan Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m. for Friday’s game, which again will be sponsored by First Summit Bank.

Penn Cambria coach Jason Grassi was picked as the head coach of the North Squad for Friday’s Lantzy Classic, while Richland coach Brandon Bailey was selected as the head coach of the South squad. Grassi and Bailey were the top two vote-getters for 2025 Coach of the Year in the Southern Alleghenies Football Coaches Association, and consequently, they earned the nod to coach in this game.

Nick Felus was the North squad coach in last year’s Lantzy game after leading Penn Cambria to the PIAA Class 3A state semifinals in 2024, his last season as the Panthers’ head coach. Felus will begin his second season as head football coach at Neshaminy High School this fall.

“There are a lot of schools throughout Districts 5, 6, and in the case of Ligonier Valley, District 7, so it is a real honor to be selected as a head coach in this game,” said Bailey, who is marking his third appearance as a head coach in the game.

Grassi also said that it is an honor for him to coach in the game, and that his Penn Cambria players – five of whom will participate in Friday’s game for the North squad – opened the door for him to do so.

“It’s an honor, but our players are the only reason that I am here,” Grassi said. “When you have a great group of kids, a great group of seniors, and a great program, that is what happens.”

The rules in the Lantzy game predispose both teams to utilize their offenses. Those rules require that teams throw on at least 25 percent of their offensive plays in each quarter, and that defenses align in a four-man front and man-to-man coverage.

“The rules of the game really provide an advantage to the offenses,” said Bailey, whose Richland team won the District 6 Class 2A championship last season and lost to eventual state runners-up Farrell in the first round of the state playoffs. “We’re going to try to spread the ball around and try to score more points than the other team.”

The North team is made up largely of athletes from Blair and Cambria County schools, while the South squad is comprised largely of athletes from Indiana and Somerset County schools.

Former Penn Cambria standout Brady Jones will share quarterback duties with Meyersdale’s Lance Jones for the North squad.

“Brady’s leadership this week has been awesome,” Grassi said of Brady Jones’ performance in practice sessions for the North team this week at Forest Hills High School. “He’s taken the lead in everything that we’re doing.

“Lance Jones is a good quarterback, (whose Meyersdale team) had a really, really good season last year,” Grassi said. “He’s a big, tall quarterback and he’s a good athlete.”

The offensive backfield for the North team will feature former Bishop Guilfoyle Academy star Jake Kissell at running back, with Penn Cambria grad Grant Gides and Bishop McCort Catholic Academy grad Angelo Gallucci at the wideout positions.

“We have a good mix of different guys who we think will enable us to both run and throw the ball well,” Grassi said.

The South squad – which won last season’s game 39-14 and now holds a 30-24 edge in the all-time series – will feature Somerset’s Colt Hagans and Marion Center’s Cam Rising at quarterback, with Zander Richardson of Forest Hills also a candidate to play there, as well as at a variety of other skill positions.

“Each one of those kids brings something to the table,” Bailey said. “We’ve got some good skill players, and we hope to spread the ball around to a lot of different kids and let some (different) people have some fun Friday night.”

This game originated in 1971 in order to generate proceeds to help defray the medical bills of former Cambria Heights player Ken Lantzy, who suffered injuries in an October 1970 Highlanders’ football game that left him confined to a wheelchair.

As time went on, the focus of the game named in Lantzy’s honor was to generate college scholarship money for the participants.

Tickets can be purchased online in advance for $7.18 each through the Eventbrite website, or at the gate on the night of the game for $10 each.

“It’s a great community event,” Bailey said. “We’ll have the band and the cheerleaders at the game, and several thousand people in the stands.”

Grassi is eagerly anticipating Friday’s game as well.

“We have great players and they have great players,’ said Grassi, who will be joined on the North team’s coaching staff by Penn Cambria assistant coaches Brandon Nicodemus and Brent Davison. “I’m just looking forward to a great game.”