STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- With some bragging rights between offense and defense on the line, Friday evening in Happy Valley provided both a dose of actual competition and jovial camaraderie.
The Penn State football team -- almost three months removed from its annual spring game -- put on a show once again for loyal fans at the university's lacrosse fields.
No, not in Beaver Stadium, and this had a desired outcome more important than a final score.
The 11th annual Lift For Life -- an event dedicated to raising money for kidney cancer research -- was once again a success for the Penn State chapter of Uplifting Athletes, an organization driven by college football players to raise awareness and funding for rare diseases.
“There’s a lot of people who everyday hear, ‘Sorry, we can’t help you,’ and someone needs to try to make a change with things like that,” Adam Gress, vice president of Penn State’s Uplifting Athletes chapter, said.
The Penn State defense beat the offense, 220-152, in a collection of events such as sand barrel races and Tug-of-War.
And even though the defensive side came out victorious, the group of 80-plus players united for an event that culminated yearlong fundraising efforts.
The final total raised should be released early next week, but going into the event the team already broke personal records.
Heading into Friday’s activities, the team total was a record-high $113,000, according to Penn State Uplifting Athletes president Eric Shrive.
Shrive, whose uncle has battled kidney cancer for the last couple of years, said his personal goal of $31,000 -- to cap out at $100,000 over his five-year tenure -- was surpassed by more than $10,000 to date.
Shrive said he’s been motivated by how rare diseases have affected his family and others.
“Sometimes they don’t find [kidney cancer] because it’s not a prominent disease. It’s not a prominent cancer. The funding’s not there. When they do find it, sometimes it’s too late,” Shrive said.
The event also marked another step for Uplifting Athletes, which has extended its reach to 21 campuses across the country and is represented by at least one school in each BCS conference.
Scott Shirley, executive director of Uplifting Athletes and a founder of the organization while playing for Penn State in 2003, said he hopes college football and helping rare diseases will one day become synonymous.
Shirley also said events like the Jack Hoffman-Nebraska touchdown run will help build recognition for Uplifting Athletes.
But when addressing the crowd on hand for Lift For Life, Shirley harped on the “exponential” development of the organization and his appreciation for its growing supporters.
“I can’t say enough about this team and the fact that every year this gets bigger and better,” Shirley said. “You guys blew me away.”
And with the one-year anniversary of the Freeh Report on Saturday, Shrive was asked about how this event goes along with the image of the football program. The offensive lineman was sincere, but direct, in rebutting those wanting to challenge the “culture” of Penn State football.
“Anytime people want to challenge the culture here at Penn State, they can look at the history of Lift For Life,” Shrive said. “Go find me another college football program that’s [raising this kind of money] while graduating 90 percent of their players -- one of the top graduation rates in the country -- along with winning games every year.”