HUMMELSTOWN - Eric Joraskie's summer vacation lasted all of three days.
He graduated from Mount Carmel Area High School Thursday.
Monday morning, he was already hard at work.
That's because practice for the 54th edition of the Big 33 Classic football game started at 9 a.m. Monday at Lower Dauphin High School in the often driving rain.
The game kicks off Saturday at 7:06 p.m. at Hersheypark Stadium and will also be televised on the NFL Network.
"It was good while it lasted, but now we're back to work," Joraskie, who will be a freshman at Northwestern University, said about his brief vacation.
But before the prime-time lights turn on, the Pennsylvania squad needed to get to know each other and didn't let a little rain stop them.
While nearly half an inch of precipitation fell, the 34 players stretched and went through special teams and offensive and defensive drills as the team attempts to put all the pieces together.
For most of the players, it had been just over six months since they'd last been on the field in full pads, but there was no such thing as a light workout.
And the heavy workload continued Monday with an afternoon and evening practice.
Heavy could also describe the guys Joraskie was going against during Monday's practice. Gone are the 220-pound, tough linemen from the Heartland Conference. At this level they're
replaced by guys like Aaron Reese, a 6-foot, 6-inch, 305-pound offensive lineman from Chambersburg headed to the University of Pittsburgh. On the flip side of that, Joraskie is no longer playing next to undersized defensive tackles. On more than one play, Joraskie was lined up next to Jaryd Jones-Smith, a 6-7, 321-pound mountain from West Catholic, who is also bound for Pitt. Listed at 265, Joraskie, who in high school was usually the biggest player on the field, has to use all his attributes - quickness, technique and intelligence - to compete.
"It's good work because there are going to be big guys (at Northwestern)," Joraskie said. "The Big Ten is known for their big linemen and it's good to get a feel for that and start working with guys like that."
In fact, Joraskie thinks most of this week will be like boot camp before he reports to Northwestern on June 23, where he'll start lifting with the team, as well as taking two classes.
"I'm excited to get out there," Joraskie said. "It's a big opportunity to get integrated into the team early, learn the system and hopefully it'll get me some playing time.
"I think doing this for a week will definitely make everything out there easier, just because I'll be back into the solid groove of football. We're practicing three times today and it'll be good to get back in to that kind of work."
Joraskie is also looking forward to the rest of what Big 33 week has in store for him.
"So far, it's been good," Joraskie said. "My host family is great. They have a couple kids and we were playing basketball yesterday, so it's been a lot of fun. As the week goes on, we'll get to do more."
After all, this is still technically vacation time.