HERSHEY -- In the rush of jerseys, it was hard to see exactly what went down.

Ohio left tackle and Penn State recruit Gerald Cadogan says it was a little bit too much pushing and shoving. Pennsylvania defensive end and Penn State recruit Tyrell Sales will tell you that it was teammates rushing onto the field to defend their own.

And to the game's announcer, it was a display of behavior not welcome in Hersheypark Stadium, behavior that elicited his bellowing into the PA system: "Pennsylvania players, report to your bench immediately! Ohio players, report to your bench immediately!"

Regardless of the sequence or appropriateness of the events, what is for certain is that in Saturday night's Big 33 Football Classic, there was a pair of third-quarter brawls in which the players from both the Pennsylvania and the Ohio all-star teams let the intensity of the matchup overcome them.

The first of the pair nucleated around Pennsylvania quarterback and Michigan recruit Chad Henne. After Pennsylvania ran the ball in for a 23-21 lead with 9:51 remaining in the third quarter, the team's extra point attempt was blocked and run back into Pennsylvania territory by Michigan State recruit Justin Kershaw. Henne, the holder for the kick, was the one to halt Kershaw's breakaway. While the massive maize-and-blue-decked Henne cheering section erupted, Henne received a forearm to the back of the neck by an Ohio counterpart.

"I'm usually not a fighting guy, so I was on the sideline and they hit me, and I got up, and I was pissed," Henne said. "I just got up and started swinging, and then my whole team came rushing in and they started fighting."

Once broken up, the emotions had seemingly settled enough for the return to be called back and the Pennsylvania kickoff boomed downfield.

Of course, this didn't last for long. As Sales knocked the Ohio kickoff return man out of bounds, his momentum crashed him into a foe on the sideline.

Cut to brouhaha numero dos.

"As I was going out of bounds, one of their guys stepped up to me, and I reacted," Sales said. "As I was going toward him, one of their guys got me by the back of my shirt, and before I knew it their whole team was around me and my guys were next to me."

The PA announcer was at his post, too. Oh yes, and Cadogan was dancing in front of the Ohio stands, encouraging the crowd to raise the roof along with him.

Quite the sight, yes. And while the players were quick to acknowledge after the game that they meant no dishonor to their team, their mischievous smirks betrayed that they enjoyed the contact just a bit -- and the chances to get their returns on the field later on.

"You don't want to hit him back, but you want to hit him back legally," Cadogan said. "Don't worry about fist playing, because that brings a disgrace to the sport itself, just go out there and do what you have to do and if you get a chance to hit somebody, light him up."

Did he get that chance?

"I was able to do that a couple times, yes," Cadogan said, smiling. "Football's a contact sport, and we had a little contact."

And for the Penn State recruits, that's the exact kind of desire they hope to bring with them to Happy Valley.

"You don't want to be an idiot on the field, and you don't want to do anything cheap," Sales said. "But you gotta play with an edge, you gotta play with a passion. That core that we got coming in [to Penn State], we got that edge."