Aug 16, 2025 6 min read

By Rob Burchianti

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

CARMICHAELS – Carmichaels has had a string of successful dual-threat quarterbacks in recent years and Cannon Bupka fills the bill for the Mikes in 2025 after a solid junior season.

“In terms of a playmaker we’re going to be relying on, that’s Cannon,” Carmichaels coach Ryan Krull said. “I’ll say this about Cannon, he’s the most physically gifted athlete that we’ve had here in my time. Cannon is every bit of 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, and he can run and jump.

“To have a kid that big and that athletic, I’ve not coached a kid like that before. He’s put on 15 to 20 pounds since last year. He looks really good and it’s not just by coincidence. He’s worked really hard in the offseason. I have to give credit where credit is due and he’s put in the time to change his body.”

With Bupka leading the way, the Mikes put together a winning record at 5-3 last year, including a 4-3 mark in the Class A Tri-County South Conference. That left Carmichaels in a three-way tie with Bentworth and West Greene for the third automatic playoff spot out of the conference which the Bearcats earned on a tiebreaker.

The Mikes then were at the mercy of the WPIAL, which had to choose a wild-card team and took Brentwood, a fifth-place team out of the Eastern Conference, over Carmichaels. This despite two of the Spartans’ victories were over winless teams and they had one less win (4-6) than the Mikes, who played two fewer games.

Krull, in the third year of his second stint as Carmichaels coach and 10th overall, didn’t want to dwell on the past.

“The unfortunate reality of it is, we didn’t do enough last year,” Krull said. “We can sit here and whine and complain but that’s not doing us any good. We haven’t talked about it, we haven’t been disgruntled about it. We’re just OK, we’ve got to get better and that’s been our goal, to try to improve.”

The Mikes will again rely on a host of running backs led by senior Will Murray.

“As in years past we’ll have a bunch of guys touch the ball,” Krull said. “Right now, Will Murray will be our starting tailback. He’s another guy who’s done a good job for us this offseason. He’s looked quicker than he has in years past. He got a good bit of playing time as a sophomore and that continued over into his junior year. He was one of our go-to backs last year.

“Gage Kundly is a senior and he’ll see carries from different spots in the backfield for us.”

When it comes to throwing the ball, Stephen Lewis is the Mikes’ top target.

“Stephen is a guy who played receiver for us last year and he’s a junior this year,” Krull said. “What a hard-working kid he is. We expect him to be a major contributor for us on offense.

“We have a young guy who’s going to be a sophomore this year, K.C. Shook, who has put in a lot of hard work in the offseason too, and changed his body. We look for him to get some touches and make some key contributions.”

Carmichaels has some holes to fill in the trenches.

“We did lose three seniors on the offensive line,” Krull said. “But the guys that we have returning on the offensive line did get to play a good bit last year. So it’s not like this is their first time starting.”

Carmichaels’ offensive style won’t change.

“We like our quarterback to be able to run it and throw it and we like to get multiple guys touches just to keep the defense honest,” Krull said.

Senior nose tackle Maddix Connelly anchors the Mikes’ defensive line.

“He’s a big guy, about 6-3, 330,” Krull said. “We’re expecting him to be a good, solid player up front and give these linebackers a little bit of freedom and time to find the football.”

Junior Job Smith is another player Krull is counting on.

“Job played a good bit last year and was definitely a contributor,” Krull said. “He was the first guy to back any of our linebackers up and he did start a couple games. We’re expecting him to make a significant impact this year.”

Like most Class A schools, the Mikes will be using plenty of two-way players.

“We do not have great depth,” Krull said. “This is the smallest roster we’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ve got 25 guys currently on the roster. I don’t know how many of them are going to work themselves into position where they can see significant playing time on Friday nights.

“We tell our younger guys just because you’re a freshman or a sophomore doesn’t mean you can’t contribute. We’re hoping they do all the things we’re asking them to do so that they can contribute on Friday night and be a legitimate player, whether it’s being a key special teams player or a backup. We’re going to need them all.”

One goal Krull’s team met last year was his plea for an increase in toughness.

“I was really proud of the way our guys responded last year from a physicality standpoint,” Krull said.

Carmichaels held conference champion Jefferson-Morgan, which went unbeaten during the regular season, to its lowest point total in a 21-6 loss.

“The Jefferson game, I know we lost but I thought our guys played hard and played tough,” Krull said. “It was 21-6 and it was 14-6 for a good bit of the game. We were able to hang with them.

“That’s a credit to our guys believing in our coaches and buying in to what we’re selling in terms of if you’re going to play football, it’s a contact collision sport and if you’re not willing to have collisions then it’s going to be darn near impossible for us to have consistency. I thought our guys last year significantly improved from the physicality standpoint.”

Krull again sees Jefferson-Morgan and California, the only conference team to win a playoff game, as the frontrunners again in the TCS.

“California and Jefferson-Morgan were the best two teams in the conference last year and I think both teams have good players returning,” Krull said. “Until somebody knocks them off, I’d look at them as the two favorites.”

Krull will continue his tradition of not having his team play during Week Zero. The Mikes open their season at home against Sto-Rox during Week One.