Annual Hero Bowl all-star football game to be played June 3

More than 90 of the best senior high school football players will meet on Thursday night, June 3, at Widener University in the city of Chester for the 34th annual Hero Bowl.

The game, which pits players from the Central and Del-Val leagues, Episcopal Academy, Haverford School, Archbishop Carroll, Cardinal O’Hara and Monsignor Bonner high schools, will be played for the 28th consecutive year to benefit the Hero Scholarship Fund of Delaware County, Inc.

Kickoff is 7:30 p.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 in granting its support for the game. TD is continuing support for the game for the 11th year with the sponsorship initiated by Commerce Bank.

“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 Councilman Thomas J. McGarrigle.

Players for the Hero Bowl were picked by the Coaches Association for the teams to be coached by Ridley High School Head Coach Dennis Decker and Cardinal O’Hara High School Assistant Head Coach Anthony G. Naab. Both are at the helm as head coaches in the game for the first time.

Decker played in the 1991 game when he was the quarterback at Ridley.

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 T. Lythgoe, Chairman of the Hero Bowl and President of the Hero Fund board of directors. He is a former Tinicum Township Police Chief.

Both teams will practice at Widener University, Chester, on Monday-Friday evenings for three weeks to prepare for the game.

The Hero Scholarship Fund was established in 1977 by County Council at the urging of two members of Upper Darby Township Council 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 are available for the game at all TD Bank Branches in Delaware County for $5 each. Tickets will be sold at the gate on game night, when pre-game activities will begin at 7 p.m.