Bishop Canevin rallies past Cornell
With his team’s offense in a funk, Bishop Canevin coach Rich Johnson was in serious need of a changeup late in the second quarter of his team’s WPIAL playoff game Friday.
Who better to turn to than a kid who earlier this year pitched in the PONY League World Series?
Only a freshman, backup quarterback Kole Olszewski gave Canevin the spark it needed, connecting with Lesae Lacks for a pair of touchdowns to propel the Crusaders to a 24-7 win against Cornell in a Class 1A semifinal at Montour.
By beating No. 2 seed Cornell (9-3), No. 3 Canevin (12-1) advanced to the WPIAL final for the first time since winning its only title in 1990. The Crusaders will face Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the championship Nov. 26 at Heinz Field.
“It’s going to be amazing,” Olszewski said. “What would be better is that win, to bring that championship home to Bishop Canevin. That would be the best.”
Friday, this Kole was one cool customer. Olszewski has been a steady contributor to Canevin’s success, serving as a change-of-pace quarterback to sophomore Jason Cross, who has emerged as one of the best at his position in Class 1A. The Crusaders got off to a slow start against Cornell, and had collected only two first downs by the midway point of the second quarter. They had also fallen behind Cornell, 7-0.
“We just needed a spark,” said Johnson, who is in his second season. “Sometimes it’s a reverse where Kole isn’t doing as well and we go to Cross. Whenever we need a spark, we’ll make that switch. Sometimes it works out. Tonight was one of those times.”
Olszewski’s impact was immediate. Facing a fourth-and-4 from the Cornell 17, Olszewski found Lacks for a touchdown to tie the score, 7-7, with 4:43 left in the first half. Those two hooked up for a touchdown again on Canevin’s first drive of the second half when Olszewski lofted a nice ball to Lacks, who turned it into a 60-yard touchdown that gave the Crusaders a 14-7 advantage just over two minutes into the third quarter.
Olszewski, who also plans on playing baseball and wrestling at Canevin, finished 8 of 11 for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
Was the freshman nervous playing on such a big stage?
“Do you want the real answer?” Olszewski said, laughing. “I was definitely nervous, but I locked in and did my thing.”
Canevin, which entering the night boasted the No. 2 scoring defense in the WPIAL, was outstanding defensively. Cornell’s only touchdown came on Sincere Kimbrough’s 9-yard scoring pass to Timothy Henderson with 1:45 left in the first quarter. Canevin used a goal-line stand at the end of the first half to keep the score even and go into the half with momentum. Cornell had its 18-yard field-goal attempt blocked by Lesae Lacks, who returned it for a touchdown. But the score was wiped out due to an illegal forward pass.
Other semifinal
OLSH 14, Rochester 13: No. 9 seed Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (93) continued its surprising playoff run by slipping past Big Seven Conference rival No. 5 Rochester (9-3) at Martorelli Stadium.
Neimiah Azeem accounted for a pair of touchdowns for OLSH, which lost to Rochester, 34-7, Oct. 2. Azeem scored on a 5-yard run to open the scoring in the first quarter and added a 26-yard scoring toss to Dereon Greer to give OLSH a 14-7 lead just before the end of the first half.
Rochester’s Denny Robinson scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 7:06 left in the third to pull the Rams within one. However, the Rams missed the extra point, which ended up being huge.
JD Azulay scored Rochester’s other touchdown on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.
Stephen Greer rushed for 79 yards on 16 carries for OLSH, while Rochester’s Sal Laure rushed for 98 yards on 13 carries.