Bishop Canevin gets back to basics in quest to return to top of WPIAL Class A heap

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, August 23, 2023 | 10:59 PM

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Bishop Canevin coach Rich Johnson believes his team will be boring at times this season, and he’s excited to see it.

The duller the better.

“We need to get better at boring football,” said Johnson, entering his fourth season. “We come out here (on the practice field) and we’re exciting. But in the couple of losses that stick in our mind, it was basic football that we failed to execute.”

Specifically, they remember the 26-0 loss to Union in the WPIAL Class A final at Acrisure Stadium. Bishop Canevin’s opponent rushed for two touchdowns and added two defensive scores.

Canevin was heavily favored as the No. 1 seed. Union was seeded 10th. But the upset-minded Scotties possessed the ball and played mistake free, which proved again to be a winning combination.

“If somebody wants to get in a shootout, spread it out and throw it around, I don’t see anybody beating us,” Johnson said. “If you want to get down to the nitty-gritty of football like Union did, that’s what we have to get better at.”

Johnson and his coaching staff focused less on running play after play this summer and more on teaching situational football. He said this year’s team is better prepared to face different styles of football.

“I think maybe we were so excited to be in the position we were that we forgot to get down to the base of what football is,” Johnson said. “When it’s cold outside, people want to run the ball.”

Canevin returns eight defensive starters and seven on offense from last year’s lineup that finished 12-2 overall and 7-0 in the Black Hills Conference. The Crusaders won the WPIAL title in 2021, so last year’s loss hurt.

A handful of players have Division I college offers, including senior safety/wide receiver Jason Cross, a West Virginia recruit who intercepted six passes a year ago.

Sophomore defensive end Daiveon Taylor (6-1, 215), who had 17 sacks, lists offers from Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia, among others. Junior defensive end and tight end Henry Barbisch (6-4, 228) has Marshall and Miami (Ohio).

“You don’t find very many sophomores with Power 5 offers,” Johnson said of Taylor. “When you see him, you’ll understand why he has those offers. You have to pay a little more attention to him than maybe you did last year. But if you do, that takes away (blockers) from some of our other guys. You kind of pick your poison.”

Taylor and Barbish combine with junior Braiden Sudor (5-11, 210) and senior Jaiden Collins (6-0, 290) to form a stout defensive line.

Junior cornerback Jayden Lindsey also returns after making six interceptions.

On offense, the team brings back two 1,000-yard passers and a 1,500-yard rusher, so the big plays aren’t going away. One difference will be Johnson’s decision to stop rotating quarterbacks.

Junior quarterback Kole Olszewski gets the job full-time after passing for a team-best 1,373 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. Cross, who threw for 1,277 yards and 18 touchdowns, shifts to wide receiver.

Cross showed his versatility a year ago when he rushed for eight touchdowns and caught two.

“Adding a 6-2 receiver out there is a privilege,” Johnson said.

Senior running back Marquis Carter returns to the backfield after rushing for 1,545 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The biggest loss to graduation was leading scorer Xavier Nelson, a standout wide receiver and cornerback who had a team-high 22 touchdowns. Nelson had more than 1,200 yards receiving.

What this year’s group of pass-catchers has is size, with the addition of Cross and plans to use multiple tight ends.

“We might lack a little bit in that outside game, but we’ll make up for it in the middle of the field,” Johnson said.

The way last year ended “stung,” said Johnson, adding that it wasn’t easy for the coaches or the players to move on. Combined, they’d outscored their first 12 WPIAL opponents 530-92 before being shut out in the league finals.

Johnson said the best way to make amends is to win this year.

“We want to make it back to where we were at last year,” he said. “That’s kind of the floor for us. They expect to be there. We haven’t put in less work, so why should we expect lesser results? That’s what we’re looking for.”

Bishop Canevin

Coach: Rich Johnson

2022 record: 12-2, 7-0 in Class A Black Hills Conference

All-time record: 331-287-12

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

9.1 at Greensburg Central Catholic, 7

9.8 at Keystone Oaks, 7

9.16 Burgettstown*, 7

9.22 at Avella*, 7

9.30 Fort Cherry*, 7

10.6 at Cornell*, 7

10.14 Chartiers-Houston*, 7

10.21 at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart*, 7

10.28 Carlynton*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Kole Olszewski

85-129, 1,373 yards, 16 TDs

Rushing: Marquis Carter

182-1,545 yards, 11 TDs

Receiving: Xavier Nelson*

43-1,291 yards, 16 TDs

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Three returning players earned first-team all-conference honors last season: Jason Cross (defensive back), Daiveon Taylor (defensive line) and Jaiden Collins (defensive line). Making the second team were Braiden Sudor (offensive line), Zeke Swift (offensive line), Jason Cross (offensive utility) and Tyjer Clayton (defensive back).

• Coach Rich Johnson is 30-7 with one WPIAL title entering his fourth season.

• The Crusaders have two WPIAL titles and they won them 32 years apart (1990, 2022). In 1990, the Crusaders defeated Washington, 21-20, to win the Class 2A title.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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