
Matt Senneca has been involved with local football since his playing days at Allentown Central Catholic in the 1990s.
But he has never had an opportunity to participate in the McDonald’s СŷƵ All-Star Classic. Until now.
The Easton High School coach who was СŷƵ’s 2024 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Coach of the Year is the head coach of the Ronald McDonald House Charities White team in Thursday’s 54th annual McDonald’s Classic at Nazareth’s Andy Leh Stadium. And the former Penn State quarterback is looking forward to the game, which has a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
“I grew up in the area with this game and my dad [Sam] coached in this game, he played in this game,” Senneca said. “But I never played in this game. When I was a senior at Central, Penn State said you can play in one all-star game, and I got picked for the Big 33 game, too. I had to make a choice between that game and this one, and I chose the Big 33 game.
“So this is my first year being a part of this game, and when they reached out to me and asked me if I’d coach, I wanted to do it. You never know what the future holds and if you’ll ever get the opportunity again.”
Senneca is coaching the Northampton County kids, including four from the Easton team that went 11-2 and won the Northampton County division championship last fall. The Red Rovers fell to Emmaus in the District 11 6A semifinals, but bounced back for a thrilling 17-14 win over Phillipsburg on Thanksgiving morning after trailing 14-0.
The Red Rovers in the McDonald’s game are running backs Dorian Thomas and Will Day, receiver Jasir Frutchey and offensive lineman Marquis Labossiere.
Senneca has also enjoyed the opportunity to coach kids from rival programs, such as Freedom.
The Patriots are well-represented by Jelani Fedrick, Jayden Macon, Dylan Hill, Ryan Roeder, and Hunter Sporka.
Sporka features one of the most heartwarming stories of any individual in the game. He suffered three different torn ACL injuries that sidelined him throughout his Patriots career, and yet he never missed any team activities because he wanted to be there for his teammates.
He was named СŷƵ’s EPC football ambassador of the year for his perseverance and dedication.
“He’s going to snap for us on extra point and field-goal attempts,” Senneca said. “[Freedom coach] Jason Roeder is on the coaching staff with me, and he asked me if [Sporka] could be on the team, and he’s a great kid. Everything that was written about him is so true. He shows up every day even though he knows he can only snap for kicks. His attitude is great. He always has a smile on his face. He’s just one of those kids you want to have on your team and you want to be around.”
Senneca has a lot of talented kids on his squad and has a potential playmaker at receiver in Carmine Diaz from Notre Dame-Green Pond.
“We probably have more Colonial League kids than EPC kids on our roster and Carmine has been looking really good,” Senneca said. “He’s a big target out there and you know with the man-to-man defense you have to play in this game, we’re hoping to exploit some matchups with our height at receiver. We’ve got some big kids and we can win some jumpball situations.”
Senneca said he is a little concerned about the warm temperatures in the forecast and potential cramping issues since the kids aren’t generally in football shape, but said he thinks it will be a fun night.
“It is what it is,” he said. “It’s kids getting a chance to play high school football one more time and for a good cause. I’ve enjoyed working with the kids and the other coaches. We’ve got Kevin Morton from Freedom, Eric Sampson from Pen Argyl and Brian Falcone and Mike Fleming from my staff.”
Several players came over from the other roster to play on Senneca’s team because there was an imbalance of kids on the rosters. One of them is Rocco DelGuidice from Pocono Mountain who will share time at quarterback with Northampton’s Aiden Hess.
A few schools are not represented in the game, including Easton’s rival, Phillipsburg, and Liberty and Bethlehem Catholic.
It’s a tough time of year for kids to make a commitment to a football all-star game, especially those who won’t continue with the sport in college, but Senneca and everyone involved are thankful for those who are playing.
“I can guarantee you that everyone on our roster is going to play,” Senneca said. “And we’re all going to do our best to put on a good show.”
The Northampton County team, formerly known as the gold, has won the last three games in the series, including by 21-20 scores in the last two years.