Union gets to finals

The Bishop Canevin football team entered Friday’s WPIAL Class 1A semifinal game against South Side Beaver with a 41.3 points per game scoring average.

The top-seeded Crusaders (12-1) reached their season average in the first half of its 49-21 domination of the No. 5 seeded Rams (11-2) in a semifinal game at Peters Township.

The win earned Bishop Canevin a return trip to Acrisure Stadium to defend the WPIAL Class 1A title it won last year.

Jason Ross turned in a perfect performance for the Crusaders by completing 9 of 9 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns. Three of his scoring passes came in the first quarter on tosses of 51 and 20 yards to Lasae Lacks and 52 yards to Xavier Nelson.

Bishop Canevin scored four more times in the second quarter on a 53-yard run by Marquis Clark, a 74-yard run by Cross, a 78-yard pass from Cross to Xavier Nelson and an 80-yard interception return by Nelson. The Crusaders went into the intermission with a 49-14 lead.

Brody Almashy scored twice for South Side Beaver on a 10-yard run and a 4-yard pass from A.C. Corfield.

Other semifinal

Union 18, Rochester 16: It was a battle of double-digit seeds in the other Class 1A semifinal, which was at Freedom High School. It was also a Big Seven Conference rematch, as No. 10 seed Union (10-3) defeated No. 14 Rochester for the second time.

A 58-yard run by Braylon Thomas was the difference and earned the Scotties their first trip to a WPIAL title game since 1973.