24 • SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2022 • VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
CLASS A
PRESEASON
RANKINGS
1. Bishop Canevin
(13-2)
The Crusaders are
stacked with talent
after winning their first
WPIAL title since 1990.
A number of skill players
return and the offensive
line is a year older.
2. Our Lady of the
Sacred Heart (9-4)
3. Clairton (7-3)
4. Cornell (9-3)
5. Leechburg (9-3)
* RECORDS FROM 2021
THE STARS
NAHEMIAH AZEEM
OLSH, Sr., QB
A dual-threat quarterback,
he threw for 1,815
yards and 23 TDs as a
junior.
CAPONE JONES
Clairton, Sr., QB/DB
Shifty and accurate,
Jones can move the
football multiple ways.
BRAYLAN LOVELACE
Leechburg, Sr., RB/LB
The 6-foot-2,
200-pound Pitt commit
has been wreaking havoc
in the Eastern Conference
for three years.
XAVIER NELSON
Bishop Canevin, Sr.,
WR/CB
A catch-and-go threat,
he was a big reason
why the offense was so
successful last season
for the WPIAL champion
Crusaders.
LANDAN STEVENSON
Mapletown, Sr., RB/LB
A candidate to push
for the WPIAL rushing
title, he has 3,651 career
yards and 57 career
TDs.
DON’T MISS
9.3 Greensburg CC at
Bishop Canevin
Bishop Canevin won last
year’s matchup when
the teams were Eastern
Conference opponents,
20-14.
9.10 Clairton at OLSH
A rematch of last year’s
first-round playoff game
won by OLSH, 29-15.
10.8 Cornell at Bishop
Canevin
Skill and depth could
produce an offensive
shootout late in the
regular season.
Quarterback Jason Cross will guide Bishop Canevin on its title defense quest this season.
WEARING A BULL’S-EYE
Bishop Canevin does not have
a lot of players who might be considered
NCAA Division I prospects
— at least not according to the feedback
from college coaches.
“We’re kind of on that (5-foot-9)
threshold,” Crusaders coach Richard
Johnson said. “There are a lot
of D-3 schools interested but not
D-1s.”
That’s all right. Bishop Canevin
is more interested in winning than
recruiting at this juncture, as the
team seeks a repeat performance
of 2021.
The Crusaders are the preseason
favorites in Class A after winning
the WPIAL championship, 42-7,
their first title since 1990.
“They’re loaded at the skills,”
Greensburg Central Catholic coach
Marko Thomas said.
Most of the team’s starting offense
and defense return to compete
in a new-look classification.
“We’re not overlooking anyone,
I can tell you that,” Johnson said.
“The goal is to see how we react to
being the target.”
The Crusaders, who finished 13-2
after falling to Redbank Valley in
the PIAA playoffs (23-14), feature
wide receivers/defensive backs
Xavier Nelson and Lesae Lacks and
quarterbacks Jason Cross and Cole
Olzewski, among others.
Bishop Canevin has moved from
the Eastern Conference into the
Big Seven with Avella, Burgettstown,
Carlynton, Chartiers-Houston,
Cornell, Fort Cherry and Our
Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was
the runner-up last season and has a
new coach in Donnie Militzer, who
took over after the resignation of
Dan Bradley.
Militzer has coached at Robert
Morris, Carnegie Mellon, Washington
& Jefferson, Charleroi and
Bishop Canevin, among other high
school stops.
Chargers quarterback Nehemiah
Azeem is a playmaker, and lineman
Ryan Farrell is a force at 6-3,
277.
“We believe we remain a contender.
We get all of our skill back
and our linemen are hungry,”
Azeem said. “We know what we
have to do to get back there, and
it starts with the offseason. We’ve
been grinding.”
While Bishop Canevin won’t play
Clairton in conference, Johnson
knows it’s never a good idea to turn
your back on a bear.
“They could be young, old, ineligible
… doesn’t matter,” Johnson
said. “Clairton is always a factor.”
Clairton brings back quarterback
Capone Jones and lineman
Tyrese Law.
“We have some very good young
talent,” Clairton coach Wayne
Wade said.
Johnson also expects Cornell to
be a tough out in his conference. EJ
Dawson is a player to watch. Given
space, he is dangerous.
Two teams from the Eastern Conference
to watch are Leechburg
and Greensburg Central Catholic.
Leechburg features senior tailback
and linebacker Braylan Lovelace,
who ran for 1,506 yards and
29 touchdowns last season. Pitt
recruited him as a linebacker.
GCC has depth and skill, particularly
at running back and receiver.
Senior Jaydin Canady could have a
big season in the backfield.
Class A is the smallest in the
WPIAL by enrollment, but it grew
in size this season. It now has 30
teams — up from 24 — and goes
from three conferences to four.
Newcomers down from 2A are
Frazier, Beth-Center, Carlynton,
Chartiers-Houston, Laurel, South
Side and Summit Academy.
Several coaches pointed to perennial
contender Rochester as a top
five-caliber team.
Laurel could be an X-factor after
winning a conference title in 2A.
But the Spartans lost their leading
passer, rusher and receiver.
“There was already great football
in Single-A,” Laurel coach Brian
Cooper said of the new teams in
the class. “It just makes it that
much deeper of quality teams and
that much more difficult to win a
championship.
“We were in Single-A a few years
ago and we know it is strong football
there. We are up for the challenge.”
West Greene features running
back/linebacker Colin Brady, a
junior who ran for 1,444 yards and
20 touchdowns last season.
Carlynton senior running back
Shawn Curry had a 256-yard rushing
game against Riverview.
Also keep an eye on Shenango senior
running back CJ Miller (1,013
yards, nine TDs), who will run behind
James Madison commit Kyle
Lenhart (6-3, 280).
by BILL BECKNER JR.