Sewickley Herald

              August 2006
FOOTBALL 2006
Gateway Newspapers Page 9
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Bishop Canevin Crusaders
Big Seven Conference (Class A)
Coach: Bob Jacoby 34th season -2005 record: 11-1
Veteran Jacoby knows what winning is all about
By Jeff Widmer
Staff writer
Bob Jacoby takes a couple of steps back, and he likes what he gees developing at Bishop Canevin High School.
Jacoby, Canevin’s athletic director now entering his 34th year as the head football coach* knows what it takes to win. His teams have won 27 games and lost only seven in the past three years.
BISHOP CANEVIN SCHEDULE
Home sanies In capitals. , Conference games denoted willi art asterisk.	
Sept. 1...	
Sept. 9 ...	
Sept. 15...	
Sept, 23.,	
Sept. 29..	
Oct. 6		
Oct. 14 ...	
Oct. 21....	.... at Scuth Side Beaver,* 12:30 p.m.
Oct. 28.,.	
Last year’s team went 11-1 before losing to powerhouse Duquesne in the WPIAL Class A semifinals.
This year’s team returns eight starters, five on offense and three on defense.
But what impresses Jacoby more than anything is the swarm of underclassmen sighing up to play football at Bishop Canevin. 6f the 73 players he has on his practice fields this year, 46 are freshmen and sophomores,
“You always want experience,” Jacoby stressed, “but we do have the numbers. It seems to me we are creating a good nucleus here. And we are creating a good nucleus of kids who know what is expected when they get here.”
Jacoby said enrollment at Bishop Canevin is growing. In 2005, for instance, the school had its largest freshman class (140) in the last 10 years.
This year’s class of new students is now at 155, Jacoby said.
The experience at Canevin this year comes with the coaching. Jacoby’s three assistants have been at the school for decades and bring more than four decades worth of coaching experience among them.
Mike Lesifko is the defensive coordinator and has been with Jacoby since 1978; Joe Amorose, who coaches the defensive and offensive backfields, has been a coach since 1977; and Dom Parker coaches quarterbacks and the defensive line. He has worked with Jacoby since 1983.
Jacoby feels confident with this year’s offense. Surrounding senior quarterback Dan Gustine, offensive tackle Tony Lutz, selected first-team All Conference last year, returns, as does senior Nick Kulback, who could play center or guard,
Adam Lardieri, because of sheer
strength, will switch from fullback to guard, Jacoby said. Senior Andy Tomcilc will play tackle and Matt Walko, a junior, can play center or guard for the Crusaders.
This year’s team will bring back names like Matt Schwartzmiller, the team captain. Schwartzmiller, a senior, is a double threat, a senior fullback and linebacker who was an All-Conference pifck as a linebacker in
2005.
“He is a hard-nosed kid,” Jacoby said. “He will be a inside runner and he will also hit you hard.”
Senior Matt Walter is a tailback who holds the school record for touchdowns (41) in a season/ He is alsp
Bishop Canevin’s fourth-leading all-time rusher, with 2,585 yards. That leaves him 640 yards behind the record set by Chris Pfender in 2000.
But Walter is more interested in getting the team back to the playoffs, Jacoby said.
“He is not selfish. His ultimate goal is not records. He wants to get back to the playoffs and go further than we did last year.”
Another target at Bishop Canevin this year will be Dave Wodarczyk, a senior wide receiver whom Jacoby said should have more balls thrown to him this year.
“He is our deep threat,” Jacoby said.
On defense, Jacoby is concerned about his line.
“We’re OK in our secondary and our linebackers, but we are shuffling our kids around right now (on the defensive line) and we don’t really know where we want to put them.”
Junior Dan Sullivan will handle kickoff duties and sophomore Zack Rogers will be the Crusaders’ punter. Senior Kevin Smith will be the place-kicker.
Bishop Canevin moves to the Big Seven Conference from the Black Hills Conference.
Jacoby said he sees the new conference affiliation bringing a benefit — less travel.
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