WPIAL Class A final by the numbers: Bishop Canevin 42, OLSH 7

By: George Guido
Friday, November 26, 2021 | 6:07 PM

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Bishop Canevin 42, OLSH 7

OLSH 7-0-0-0 7

Bishop Canevin 0-28-7-7 42

How they scored

OLSH: Stephen Greer 6 pass from Nehemiah Azeem (Billy Fryer kick

BC: Keyshawn Harris 6 run (Geno DeFrank kick)

BC: Xavier Nelson 67 pass from Jason Cross (DeFrank kick)

BC: Nelson 46 pass interception return (DeFrank kick)

BC: Nelson 35 pass from Kole Olszewski (DeFrank kick)

BC: Willie Banks-Hicks 9 pass from Olszewski (DeFrank kick)

BC: Jaiden Torres 52 run (DeFrank kick)

Team statistics

BC OLSH

First downs 11 … 8

Rushes-Yards 30-124 … 33-36

Passing yards 144 … 85

Passing Att-Comp-Int 16-7-0 … 19-8-4

Total offense Plays-yards 46-268 … 52-121

Punts (number-avg.) 6-34.0 … 5-17.6

Fumbles-lost 1-0 … 2-1

Penalties-yards 3-11 … 4-15

Possession time 22:16 … 25:44

Individual statistics

Rushing: BC: Jaiden Torres 6-62, Keyshawn Harris 8-46, Marquis Cater 7-15, Jason Cross 5-5, Lasae Lacks 1-3, Kole Olszewski 3-minus 7; OLSH: Stephen Greer 19-52, Brandon Brazell 4-14, B.J. Vaughn 1-0, Nehemiah Azeem 9-minus-30.

Passing: BC: Cross 4-8-87-0INT-1TD, Olszewsi 3-8-57-0INT-2TD; OLSH: Azeem 8-19-85-1TD-4INT

Receiving: BC: Xavier Nelson 2-102, Lacks 2-18, Jayden Lindsay 2-15, Willie Banks-Hicks 1-9; OLSH: Ziggy McIntosh 3-32, S. Greer 2-33, Dereon Greer 2-25, Dorrien Tate 1–minus 5

Two titles

Friday’s title game victory was the second for Bishop Canevin. The Crusaders upset Washington, 21-20, at Three Rivers Stadium in 1990. Before joining the WPIAL in 1973, Canevin won a title in the old Pittsburgh Area Catholic League in 1969 with a 7-2-1 record.

The Crusaders were in the WPIAL playoffs for the 19th time, sporting a 22-17 record.

Meanwhile, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was also seeking its second title, winning it all in 2018 over Rochester, 28-6. The school began sponsoring football in 2010. The Chargers are 7-5 in six WPIAL playoff seasons.

Quick ascent

It was a quick climb to the top for Bishop Canevin’s coach, Richard Johnson. In just his second year at the helm, Johnson is 18-4 with a WPIAL title. He has said a number of times that his team’s “calling card is defense.” The Crusaders have limited the opposition to 104 points, an average of 6.9 per game. OLSH was limited to just 36 rushing yards in 33 attempts and tackled the Chargers eight times for losses.

Punting options

In the first half when OLSH was in punt formation, the snap went over the punter’s head into the end zone. The ball was retrieved and the punter barely managed to get the kick away to the OLSH 6 where it was captured by a Canevin special teams player.

After checking with the officials evaluator in the press box, it was a free ball since the punt didn’t go past the line of scrimmage. Therefore, OLSH could have grabbed the punt and advanced it.

‘X’ is the man

In addition to scoring three touchdowns for the Crusaders Friday, junior Xavier Nelson did things that don’t show up in the box score when he didn’t have the ball.

On Canevin’s final touchdown, Nelson held off a Chargers defender while Jaiden Torres was skirting the right sideline into the end zone. As the holder on kicking attempts, Nelson muffed a snap after Torres’ touchdown, but righted the ball just in time for Geno DeFrank to boot his sixth extra point of the day.

The three TDs gave Nelson 14 on the season. On defense, he also contributed 2½ tackles and recorded a pair of interceptions, one for a 46-yard touchdown return.

He truly never comes off the field, playing both ways and punting besides serving as the holder.

Passing fancy

Bishop Canevin continues to have success with its quarterbacking combo of Jason Cross and Kole Olszewski.

Cross passed Friday for 87 yards, giving the sophomore 1,468 yards of the season. Freshman Olszewski had 57 to hit 706 on the season. The duo has combined for 2,174 yards.

OLSH quarterback Nehemiah Azeem started the day with a very patriotic 1,776 yards on the season. He threw for 85 yards to finish with a Civil War-related 1,861 yards.

Up next

The Crusaders (13-1) will be in the PIAA semifinals next weekend against the winner of Friday night’s game between Redbank Valley and Northern Bedford.

Tags: Bishop Canevin, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart