Arvin Football Classic is Thursday

The MVCA-sponsored game will be played at Hubbard High Stadium at 7 p.m.

HUBBARD — Are you ready for some football?

The 2008 Jack Arvin Football Classic for graduated seniors, sponsored by the Mahoning Valley Coaches Association, will be Thursday at Hubbard High School’s Stadium.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $6 and available at the gate.

Game director Jeff Bayuk said the MVCA all-star game has been in existence for at least 20 years.

The rosters list approximately 30 players per team.

The Red team, coached by Struthers’ Dallas Saunders, is comprised of mostly Mahoning County school talent, along with a few representing Columbiana County schools.

The White team, coached by Brookfield High’s Randy Clark, is exclusively Trumbull.

“We try to get as close to a Trumbull vs. Mahoning matchup as possible,” said Bayuk, a longtime Hubbard High coach, who took over the reins at Campbell Memorial last season.

One of Bayuk’s assistants at Hubbard was Arvin, who coached for 34 years before passing away in 2001. Since then, the game has been dedicated to his memory.

Over the years, the all-star game has been at various sites, including high school stadiums at Hubbard, Newton Falls, Boardman and Sharon (when it was against the Western Pa. all-stars) and YSU’s Stambaugh Stadium.

“We’re fortunate to be playing at Hubbard with the administration being cooperative,” said Bayuk, “It’s nice to play every other year at Hubbard because that’s where Jack coached for 34 years. It’s always nice when we can return there.”

Defining the leader in the series isn’t clear-cut because the game wasn’t always a Trumbull vs. Mahoning format.

“For a time, the teams were classified by rivalries,” Bayuk said, giving the examples of an Ursuline vs. Mooney or Poland vs. Canfield.

“As the game grew, it become a county thing.”

One of Bayuk’s former Campbell players taking part is Antwan Dawson, who will be opposite three former Hubbard players under Bayuk: Marc Kanetsky, Mike Carnahan and Marcus Coonce.

“It’s nice that they’ll be able to play in front of their home fans,” Bayuk said of the college-bound former Eagles.