Rose Bowl in August: York County school kicking off football season with 'grandiose' event
Ron Coursey loves "grandiose" events.
He's held them at the last two stops of his career as a high school athletic director. And he knew he was going to hold them once he came to York Suburban midway through this past school year.
One of his first big projects will debut next month. Suburban will host the York Rose Bowl Kickoff Classic to open high school football season from Aug. 25 to 26. The school will host five games — with two coming Friday night and three more Saturday.
It's a continuation of the "Peach Bowl" event he helped run last fall as the athletic director at Chambersburg High School. Prior to that, he hosted the "Western Pennsylvania vs. Everyone Football Showcase" at Woodland Hills starting in 2018.
"I love these big events," Coursey said. "It's fun and a labor of love to showcase high-level teams in a first-class environment."
What teams are playing?
Here's the schedule:
York Tech vs. James Buchanan, 5:30 p.m. Friday
York Suburban vs. East Pennsboro, 8:30 p.m. Friday
Imhotep vs. Life Christian Academy (Virginia), 2:30 p.m. Saturday
Steel-High vs. Imani Christian (Pittsburgh), 5:30 p.m. Saturday
York High vs. Harrisburg, 8:30 p.m. Saturday
Last year's event at Chambersburg was designed to pit a District 3 team against a team from a different region of Pennsylvania. However, Coursey's late arrival at Suburban in the spring made scheduling this year's event challenging.
Bishop McDevitt and Woodland Hills, which both participated last year, found different games for opening weekend because they weren't sure the event would happen. Imhotep, a dominant charter school in Philadelphia that faced McDevitt last year, wanted to participate again. Coursey had to reach out to a scheduling service to find a team willing to play the reigning Class 5A state finalist.
Steel-High, which also participated last year, is a perennial state contender in Class 1A and features Division I recruit quarterback Alex Erby.
"There will be many guys playing in that game who will play on Saturdays," Coursey said of the Imhotep-Life Christian Matchup. "And based on track records maybe some guys who will play on Sundays."
Both Friday games are traditional opening night matchups. York Tech was scheduled to host James Buchanan this season and East Pennsboro agreed to play at Suburban for the second straight season.
The Saturday night finale will be the first time York High and Harrisburg have played each other since 2015, when the Bearcats were midway through a 0-10 season. Now York High is coming off its sixth straight playoff appearance while Harrisburg reached the Class 6A state title game last year.
Last year, York High had a dramatic comeback against Woodland Hills come up one yard short on the final play of the game.
"This is going to challenge us, and it gives us the exposure we need," York High coach Russ Stoner said. "If you're any type of competitor you want to play the best. You gotta have mental toughness and take these challenges on."
Related: First Chambersburg Peach Bowl an 'absolute success'
More on Coursey: Athletic director 'locking up the resume' after moving from Franklin County to York County
What's the cost?
Tickets are $10 per day for adults and $5 for students with a student ID. Fans can leave and reenter during the day, but a Friday ticket does not give access to Saturday games.
The games will also be live streamed on the pay-per-view service Roxamore Sports Network.
All revenue from the event will go to the York Suburban All-Sports Booster Club.
What are the challenges?
While Coursey has hosted similar events in the past, he hasn't done it in a stadium this size.
Woodland Hills seats around 12,000 fans, and Chambersburg can hold close to 9,000, but York Suburban's Dick May Field has a capacity in the 5,000 range.
"I would encourage people to get there early and watch two or three games," Coursey said. "Once we hit seating capacity there's some standing room but at some point we have to follow fire code."
Last year's event at Chambersburg had four games on Saturday. The stands began to fill during the second matchup (York High vs. Chambersburg) and was "packed" for the final two games, according to Coursey.
Last year's event was supposed to have six games, but a Friday night matchup between Harrisburg and St. Vincent Pallotti was canceled due to lightning. Coursey said York Suburban is keeping Sunday open this year as a potential reschedule date.
Saturday's slate was shortened from four games to three due to timing and heat concerns. Last year featured a noon contest between Fairfield and Winder, but Coursey said it's difficult to find schools willing to travel far for an early game. He said teams need to be ready to start warmups as soon as the prior game ends.
"I'm fine with the late game starting at 8:45 (p.m.) instead of 8:30 but 9:15 is too late," Coursey said. "We've got to be able to ramp up our security and parking, and I'm already working with Spring Garden Police on an air-tight plan. There's a lot of preplanning when it comes to ticket-taking and the concessions stand."
A bigger venue in the future?
In future years, Coursey will have more time to solidify the schedule in advance. He also said he wouldn't rule out adding back a sixth game.
However, he can't do anything about the size of his home stadium. That's why he's had preliminary meetings with Eric Menzer about having the event at WellSpan Park in the future — though there is no agreement in place, and it will depend on the York Revolution's schedule.
"We've run successful events before, and it all comes down to how organized and well-planned you are," Coursey said. "We want people walking away saying, 'When's next year's event?'"
Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York Suburban hosting Rose Bowl showcase to kick off football season
