All Star football game at Widener June 2 to benefit Hero Fund

More than 90 of the best senior high school football players will meet Thursday night, June 2, at Widener University in Chester, in the 35th annual Hero Bowl.

Representing the Tigers will be Brian Kelly and Christian Whiteside.  Kelly, bound for Millersville in the fall, will play defensive line and Whiteside, a Bloomsburg recruit, will help anchor the offensive line.The game which pits players from the Central and Del-Val leagues, Episcopal Academy, Haverford School and Archbishop Carroll, Cardinal O’Hara and Monsignor Bonner high schools will be played for the 29th consecutive year to benefit the Hero Scholarship Fund of Delaware County.

Kickoff is 7:30p.m. for the game which will be cosponsored by TD Bank in conjunction with Delaware County Council and the Delaware County High School Football Coaches Association. TD Bank is donating $12,000 to support the game.

“The Hero Bowl provides an opportunity for the best players in the high schools in Delaware County to demonstrate their skills and at the same time enables residents to make a substantial contribution to a most worthy cause, the Hero Scholarship Fund,” said County Council Member Thomas McGarrigle.

Players for the Hero Bowl were picked by the Coaches Association for the teams to be coached by Upper Darby High School head coach Rich Gentile and Academy Park High School head coach Jason Vosheski.

Hero Bowl activities will also feature a one-mile relay race at halftime among the best high school male runners in the county, said County Detective Robert Lythgoe, Chairman of the Hero Bowl and President of the Hero Fund board. He is a former Tinicum Township Police Chief.

Both teams are practicing at Widener University, Chester weekday evenings for three weeks to prepare for the game.

The Hero Scholarship Fund was to provide scholarship aid for the children of police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Tickets ($5) are available for the game at all TD Bank branches in Delaware County and will be sold at the gate on game night. Pre-game activities will begin at 7 p.m.