BETHEL PARK — After allowing a score early in the first quarter, the Canon-McMillan defense rebounded by not allowing another point from the Bethel Park offense as the Big Macs beat the Black Hawks 28-8 on Friday night. While Zachary Welsh was the offensive star tonight as he totaled over 200 rushing yards, the defense is what won the game for the Big Macs.
After allowing a 71-yard scoring drive early in the first quarter, the Big Macs’ defense tightened up and forced six straight Bethel Park drives to end in a three-and-out or an interception. This stretch of dominant defense lasted from the first quarter until midway through the fourth quarter.
“We came out soft in the first half,” said Big Macs’ linebacker Kaeden Singleton. “I feel like in the second half we came out with a better mentality and we cooled [them] down a little bit.”
With the win against the Black Hawks, the Big Macs find themselves in an unusual situation as their 3-1 start to the season is the best in recent memory. While the Black Hawks fell to 1-3, to come in and beat a quality opponent in their own stadium showed the progress that Canon-McMillan has taken over the past few seasons.
“[This win] is big for the team,” Singleton said. “Putting the wins together, stacking them up helps build our team. It feels good.”
The Big Macs’ defense, which is led by Delaware commit Kaeden Singleton, has only allowed 38 points over their first four games of the season with 30 of those points coming in their lone loss of the season against North Allegheny. In the other two matchups prior to Friday night’s victory against Bethel Park, the defense pitched two shutouts against Penn Trafford and Seneca Valley.
Singleton committed to the University of Delaware back in June and said that after his first visit, he felt like Newark could be his home for the foreseeable future.
“My first visit, I love the coaches there,” Singleton said. “The facilities are nice, it just felt like home, felt like I could have a family there.”
While Canon-Mac lists Singleton as a linebacker, once he reaches college, he will play as a defensive end. As he stands now at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, Singleton will need to add to his frame before playing at the next level which is something that even he acknowledged.
“Just getting my size up,” Singleton said. “I got to play [defensive] end in college. I got to be a lot bigger, get faster.”
Before he heads off to Delaware to become a Fightin’ Blue Hen, Singleton will continue to lead his defensive unit in hopes of catapulting the Big Macs into contention in Class-6A.
