Conlan Greene Lifts Penn-Trafford over Canon-Mac, 35-28

A standout performance by Temple commit Conlan Greene lifted defending Class 5A PIAA champions Penn-Trafford to a 35-28 win over Class 6A Canon-McMillan in Week 0 of the 2022 season on Friday night in Canonsburg. Greene completed 19 of 26 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns. Greene also rushed for 48 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.

Penn-Trafford got on the scoreboard first after a long opening drive that was capped by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Greene to Jacob Otto. Greene, who will play on the defensive line at Temple, was efficient on the drive. On third-and-short, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Greene bulldozed his way for first down yardage on a quarterback power play and then followed with a striking pass over the middle to Daniel Tarabrella, which set the Warriors up inside the 10-yard line.

Canon-McMillan answered on the following possession, as quarterback Michael Evans connected to Austyn Winkleblech for a 69-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. Winkleblech had the defensive back beat by at least five yards.

On the Warriors’ second drive, Greene continued his chemistry with receivers Otto and Tarabrella — completing a 40-yard pass to Otto and an 18-yarder to Tarabrella to put Penn-Trafford at the 2-yard line. On fourth-and-goal, Greene plunged his way on a quarterback sneak for a 2-yard touchdown to give Penn-Trafford a 14-7 lead.

Late in the second quarter, Penn-Trafford running back Owen Demeri scored on a 1-yard run after another long methodical possession. On the drive, Greene completed a 30-yard pass to Tarabrella over the middle, an area of the field that the Big Macs got exposed throughout the first half.

Things continued to unravel for the Big Macs, as they fumbled on the second play of the following drive and Penn-Trafford came up with the loose ball. On the next play, Greene completed to Tommy Kalkstein for a 44-yard touchdown to put the Warriors up 28-7 with 1:50 remaining in the half. On the play, Greene faked a screen pass and found a wide-open Kalkstein in the seam.

Evans connected to Winkleblech for a 57-yard touchdown, but it was negated due to an offensive pass interference call on Winkleblech. Canon-McMillan ended up punting and went into halftime down 28-7.

To open the second half, Evans completed a 64-yard touchdown pass to Winkleblech for a touchdown to cut Penn-Trafford’s lead to 28-14. After holding the Warriors to a short possession, the Big Macs got the ball deep into Penn-Trafford’s territory, but failed to muster any points and turned the ball over on downs.

Canon-McMillan got a second consecutive defensive stop and proceeded with another promising drive that resulted in no points. The Big Macs got the ball down to the 8-yard line but faltered and settled for a field goal that went haywire as there was an errant snap.

Penn-Trafford took advantage of the mishap, and Greene found Otto for a 49-yard touchdown pass to put Penn-Trafford up 35-14. It was the second 40+ yard touchdown pass by Greene on the night.

Canon-McMillan running back Jacob Kasper ripped off an 86-yard run to set up an Evans to Winkleblech 5-yard touchdown to close the gap to 35-21. Then, on the Big Macs next possession, Evans completed a 72-yard touchdown pass to Benjamin Urso to make it a 35-28 game with 2:15 remaining. With Canon-McMillan needing a stop on third-and-10, Kalkstein picked up first down yardage on a misdirection run to the right to secure the win for Penn-Trafford