Morning Journal / Ron Firth Ohio's Austin Tindell of Springfield tries to come up with a catch against Pennsylvania's Justin Thompson during the Penn-Ohio Classic at East Liverpool on Thursday night.

EAST LIVERPOOL — The 42nd annual Penn-Ohio Stateline Classic didn’t disappoint as both teams traded big plays at crucial times, but Team Pennsylvania ultiamtely prevailed, 20-17, on Thursday at Patterson Field.

With 2:33 left in the fourth quarter, Penn’s Dawson Snyder picked off Buckeye quarterback Brutus Ogilvie and ran it back for a 55-yard touchdown to push the Keystone team ahead 20-17. Snyder of Moon was named the defensive MVP for the winners.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Ohio. The Buckeyes did stop Keystoner Rashawn Reid at the 1-yard line as Springfield’s Clayton Nezbeth and Columbiana’s Xathon Cross led the charge with 8:38 remaining in the game.

Then, on Ohio’s next offensive play, Leetonia’s Marco Ferry dodged a would-be tackler and sprinted up the middle of the field for a 56-yard run, which got the Buckeye crowd on their feet.

“I thought for sure I was going to get a safety, but I ran hard and luckily my guys kept blocking,” Ferry said. “They never quit, never quit for a second. But, I’m glad I got the spark going.”

Toronto’s Garrett Dozier later dashed through the Pennsylvania defense for a 15-yard score, handing Ohio a 17-13 advantage with 5:44 to go.

Ohio did contain Penn’s offense for most of the night and even intercepted Quaterback Aden Almashy twice in the contest.

Crestview’s William Hardenbrook had a sack and a pass deflection in the game and was named the defensive MVP. He said the Buckeye defense really showed up this week.

“We’re all super physical and work really hard,” he said. “We know how to work off the edge and get on the inside. We try to work our hands, too.”

Despite Ohio falling to the Keystoners for the second straight time in the Penn-Ohio game, Hardenbrook said it’s been a joy to be a part of the star-studded group.

“It was great to come together with all these guys,” the Crestview linebacker said. “You hear about them, but you really don’t get to see them in person a whole lot, because you’re off playing on Friday nights, too. It really is a great time and a great experience to play this game.”

West Branch quarterback Brock Hillyer earned offensive MVP honors for Ohio.

Western Beaver’s Elias Bishop was the offensive MVP for Pennsylvania.