PITTSBURGH — It took a quarter to get things going, but once Bishop Canevin (12-1) got started they could not stop as they rolled over OLSH (9-4) 42-7 to win their first WPIAL Championship since 1990.
The Bishop Canevin defense came out hot, as Keswhan Harris recorded a strip on their first drive, but the offense could not do anything with it. OLSH got the ball back and Stephen Greer had a few powerful runs as well as a six-yard touchdown reception to give OLSH a 7-0 lead.
Bishop Canevin drove on their second drive but found themselves stuffed on fourth and goal from inside the OLSH five. However, the flip of field position wound up being a crucial turning point in the game.
Backed up near their own end zone OLSH went three and out, and a bad snap had the OLSH punter trying to get the ball out of his own end zone. He did, but Bishop Canevin took right back over at the six, now with a fresh set of downs. They only needed one play this time as Keshawn Harris fought off tackles and scored from six yards out to tie things up at seven.
The game flipped from there. Jaden Torres recorded a sack that backed up OLSH and forced a punt. Bishop Canevin once again needed just one play, as a screen to Xavier Nelson saw him break a tackle and outrun the rest of the defense for a 67-yard touchdown that gave Bishop Canevin a 14-7 lead.
The next pass OLSH threw was intercepted by Nelson who went 46 yards this time. He scored an offensive and defensive touchdown just 16 seconds apart, and Bishop Canevin led 21-7. Nelson was not done, though.
He caught a curl route and took it 35 yards to the end zone, giving himself a hat trick of scores, and Bishop Canevin a 28-7 lead before the end of the first half.
After the explosive second quarter, Bishop Canevin knew that they just had to hold onto their lead and win the WPIAL championship. With the lead, the defense was able to pin its ears back and a sack by Jaden Torres was followed up by an interception from Marquis Carter.
The Carter interception gave Bishop Canevin a short field. This led to Kole Olszewski finding Willie Banks-Hicks in the end zone wide open to extend the lead to 35-7. With the game nearly salted away Jaden Torres fought, and shrugged off tackles, and finished with an impressive 52-yard run that extended the lead to 42-7, and all but sealed the game with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Bishop Canevin will now take on the winner of Redbank Valley, and Northern Bedford next week with the date, time, and location to be determined.
