With coach back, Canon-Mac is ready to take next step
Eleanor Bailey
It’s a good idea to stick together. The seniors on the Canon-McMillan football team have been doing as much for three years. Many of them were thrust into the starting lineup as sophomores and they suffered through a series of growing pains in a 3-7 season two years ago, and you can believe it wasn’t a pleasant ordeal for the Big Macs.
Last season can best be described as a lost year for Canon-McMillan. The Big Macs lost their head coach for the season because of health reasons and then lost several close and down-to-the-wire games that the Big Macs felt they should have won.
But the Big Macs have grown up. The growing pains have been put to rest. And they believe this could be the year they move into one of the top-2 spots, long held by Central Catholic and North Allegheny, in the WPIAL’s lone Class 6A conference.
“Two years ago, the core of this team was sophomores. We played a lot of sophomores,” Canon-McMillan head coach Mike Evans pointed out. “We took some hits. We knew what we were doing. We were competitive in every game. We knew that group was going to be the group in a couple of years. We took our lumps and I knew we would struggle at times, but I also knew it would pay off.”
Evans has seven returning starters on offense and defense, which includes his quarterback for the past two years and experience at almost every other position.
“We have more volume of experience on our team than ever before,” Evans said. “We’re hoping that the volume of our experience makes up for some of the players we lost.”
In one sense, the season is already a success. Evans stepped away from coaching last year while undergoing treatment for liver cancer. He has been cleared by his doctor to return to coaching.
In Evans’ absence, interim head coach and now assistant coach Brian DeLallo guided the Big Macs to a 4-7 record and a spot in the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.
With so many returning players, Evans believes Canon-McMillan can have a breakout season and take the program’s next step.
“I want a home playoff game for these kids and for the town,” Evans said.
To get that, Canon-McMillan must keep quarterback Ty Jansma upright. Jansma passed for 1,749 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior and did just enough scrambling to keep defenses honest.
“Ty is a three-year starter. He’s very intelligent, a competitor,” Evans said. “I feel like we had the same quarterback here for six years because he’s so much like my son, Mikey, was here. The difference is he runs better than some of the quarterbacks we’ve had. Ty is not a run-first quarterback, he’s an athletic drop-back quarterback. He can process information after the snap. We trust him.”
Joining Jansma in the backfield will be senior tailback Braelon Wingfield, who averaged 5.6 yards per carry in limited action last year.
“We have our quarterback back and we think he’s a really good football player. Through the trials and tribulations of last year, we found a very good and physical tailback,” Evans said. “We’ve had good running backs here before, 1,400-yard running backs, but they were all small guys. Braelon, though, is 6-1, 185. He has shown signs of being a really good running back.”
Jansma will have a new group of receivers to work with because the two leading receivers, Ethan Campoli (40 receptions) and do-it-all tight end T.J. Sabatucci (31 catches), are gone. Senior Roman Cimarolli, who caught 23 passes, is back. Sophomore Evan Lewis has been moved from running back to wide receiver and junior Bryan Schmeltz looked good at receiver during the summer.
It helps that C-M has junior tight end Luke Sohyda (6-4, 263). Though he played only on defense last year because of Sabatucci, who is now at the University of Buffalo, Sohyda already has an offer from Ohio State as a tight end.
Up front, the Big Macs return three starters, seniors Caleb Anderson (6-2, 260), Greg Felton (6-2, 275) and Owen Rush (6-4, 275). Another linemen, senior Dakota Carmona (6-3, 275), is back after gaining experience last year.
“Our offensive line has got to get better,” Evans admitted. “We have a bunch of guys who have been offered by Division II schools. It’s a senior-laden group with good young depth. But last year we rushed for fewer yards than we have in a long time.”
The defense is built around the linebackers, juniors Brayden Collins (6-2, 215) and Bryce Collins (5-10, 205). Bryce is the middle linebacker. He won a junior national wrestling championship this summer. Brayden is an outside linebacker and was the leading tackler last year.
“The biggest difference is we’re playing with more speed on defense,” Evans said. “There’s also a lot of competitive spirit.
“I feel very good about our defense. I like where we’re at. We have talent on offense. I just feel like we have to get our line right.”
Canon-McMillan opens the season Friday at nonconference rival Peters Township. The Class 6A opener is Sept. 11 at home against Mt. Lebanon.