The Fourth of July has long since passed, but those attending Friday night’s WPIAL Class 1A Black Hills Conference football matchup between West Hills foes Bishop Canevin and Cornell could be in for some fireworks.
Both the Crusaders and the Raiders have big-time players at the skill positions capable of making the biggest of plays, so spectators who visit Dormont Stadium for the 7 p.m. matchup are likely to see a few.
The Bishop Canevin-Cornell contest is one of six involving West Hills schools Friday night. In other games, Moon entertains Seneca Valley, Montour hosts Mars, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart visits Ligonier Valley, Carlynton plays at home against Seton LaSalle and Sto-Rox travels to Washington.
The big-play capability of both Bishop Canevin and Cornell was on full display last week, as both teams came away with victories.
Bishop Canevin’s Justin Melvin established a single-game school record when he hauled in four touchdown passes in the Crusaders’ 46-28 win over previously unbeaten Laurel on Sept. 13. Melvin caught scoring passes of 8 and 9 yards from Brady Wagner and was on the receiving end of two more touchdown passes of 20 and 30 yards from Damar Olds.
In addition to throwing two touchdown passes, Olds caught five passes for 83 yards.
If that wasn’t enough, Myontae Mott rushed for a pair of touchdowns for Bishop Canevin and Neuval Bone broke loose for a 27-yard scoring run.
Cornell, meanwhile, has one of the top all-around athletes in the area in senior Khylil Johnson, who rushed for 124 yards – including a 51-yard touchdown burst — in the Raiders’ last-second 18-13 victory over Burgettstown last week.
Johnson was on the receiving end of a 6-yard touchdown pass from M.J. Stuckey with just 3 seconds left in the game to bring Cornell back for the win.
While Johnson has proved he can score pretty much every way possible, Stuckey is no slouch either, as he completed 12 of 22 pass attempts for 127 yards last week. On the season, Stuckey is 35 for 59 for 619 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Johnson has rushed 31 times for 418 yards and three scores and has caught 11 passes for 267 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also completed his only two passes for 96 yards and both have gone for touchdowns.
Seneca Valley (1-3) at Moon Area (3-1)
The Tigers spoiled West Allegheny’s Homecoming a week ago, and now they’ll try to prevent the Raiders from doing the same to them in this non-section matchup at Tiger Stadium.
Moon is coming off a 21-3 victory, a game in which a 14-point outburst in the final two minutes of the third quarter helped seal the win.
Tigers quarterback Andrew Cross played a solid game, completing 10 of 18 passes for 149 yards and a pair of touchdowns, one to Savario Vandetti and the other to Jayden Revis. Cross’ passing came in handy, as Moon rushed for just 77 yards.
On the season, Cross has completed 26 of 60 pass attempts for 361 yards and seven touchdowns.
Moon’s defense came up big, holding the Indians to just 141 total yards and neutralizing West Allegheny quarterback Donovan O’Connor.
Seneca Valley, which plays in Class 6A, is 1-3 and is coming off a 56-13 loss to Norwin.
Mars (3-1) at Montour (3-1)
The Spartans met with little resistance in their most recent outing, a 41-8 win over Knoch. However, they figure to have a much tougher time of it in this nonconference meeting with the Fightin’ Planets, who fell to 3-1 with a 19-6 loss to perennial power Aliquippa last week.
Caden Halajcio did most of the heavy lifting for Montour last week, rushing for 193 yards and touchdowns of 1, 7 and 28 yards. The Spartans rolled up 253 yards on the ground while holding Knoch to 31 yards on 26 carries.
Montour quarterback Brandon Bennett had to throw just 11 times, completing five for 100 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown strike to Zander Stern.
Mars held Aliquippa scoreless for the first three quarters last week before the Quips erupted for three touchdowns in the final quarter. J.J. Work scored two of those fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the go-ahead touchdown on a 9-yard run with 23 seconds remaining. Aliquippa tacked on a pick-six score in the final seconds.
Mars quarterback Colin Yurisnec finished with 14 completions in 20 attempts for 147 yards and a touchdown, but he was picked off twice.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (0-1, 1-3) at Ligonier Valley (0-1, 0-4)
The Chargers have fallen on tough times, particularly on the offensive end, in recent weeks, as they’ve been outscored 107-13 in three straight losses. Only one of those touchdowns came via their offensive unit.
OLSH’s only touchdown in last week’s 28-6 loss to South Allegheny came on an interception return by Chris Harris.
The Chargers wound up with minus-18 yards rushing last week and quarterback Fabian Nixon went 5 for 17 in the passing department for 16 yards.
In the previous week’s 39-7 loss to Seton LaSalle, OLSH finished with 10 yards rushing and 40 yards passing as quarterbacks J.J. Hayden, Nehemiah Ichimura and Nixon combined to complete just five passes in 14 attempts for 40 yards.
Seton LaSalle (1-0, 3-1) at Carlynton (0-0, 1-3)
The Rebels exploded offensively last week in a 61-14 victory over Charleroi while the Cougars were held scoreless in a 42-0 loss to Apollo-Ridge, one week after getting blanked 53-0 by South Allegheny.
Carlynton passed for just 35 yards and managed 18 yards rushing between its top two ball carriers in the loss to South Allegheny. Last week did not get much better as the Cougars fell to 1-3, and this week they figure to have their hands full in their Class 2A Century Conference opener.
Sto-Rox (0-1, 0-4) at Washington (1-0, 3-1)
The Vikings are coming off a 28-0 loss to Keystone Oaks in their Class 2A Century Conference opener while Washington began conference play by whipping Waynesburg Central, 35-14.
Sto-Rox has been shut out in its last two starts and scored just six points in its season-opening loss to South Side. The only game in which the Vikings showed signs of life offensively came in their 38-20 loss to Carmichaels in the second game of the season.
Sto-Rox will need to keep close tabs on Javohn Woods, who scored three touchdowns last week, and quarterback Trisan Reed, who ran for three first-half touchdowns.
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