Bishop Canevin AD thinks fast to fill last-minute hole in football schedule

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, October 11, 2020 | 11:01 AM

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When it comes to high school football in Western Pennsylvania, it truly is a weekly event.

Every school district is different, but most athletic directors normally have the same long list of things they need to do during the week to prepare for their school’s next football game that weekend.

That list is extended if it’s a home game.

However, this is 2020. This is a season where normal does not exist and the to-do list changes on a daily basis.

But what happens when the opponent changes? That is something Bishop Canevin athletic director Dale Checketts had to deal with for the Crusaders’ Week 4 contest Oct. 3.

“Ted Fulmer (athletic director) from Clairton gave me a call Wednesday evening with the news of the Bears being unable to play the game due to the situation they were facing,” Checketts said. “I offered Ted any help I could at that time and let him know we would be thinking about their kids and their program.”

A message on the Clairton website said the shutdown of Bears practices and the postponement of the Bishop Canevin game were done in response to “several athletes showing symptoms that may be related to covid-19,” calling the shutdown “precautionary.”

So, three days before a big Eastern Conference showdown against defending WPIAL champion and perennial power Clairton was postponed, Bishop Canevin was a team on an island.

Checketts contacted Bishop Canevin principal Michael Joyce and Crusaders football coach Richard Johnson to let them know about the situation.

“We discussed the various ways we could go and decided that we would prefer to try and find an opponent to still compete,” Checketts said.

Checketts reached out to his football assignor, Mike Jarosinski, to see if he had anyone who might have been facing a similar situation.

“He had informed me of a cancellation that he had heard of, and I made a call that same night to try to work something out,” Checketts said. “At the end of the night, we still had some things to finalize between the two schools.”

The next morning, the original plan could not be worked out, and the game never materialized.

It was on to Plan B for Bishop Canevin.

“Coach Johnson had heard from the Carrick coach (Brian Nolte),” Checketts said. “We have a pretty good working relationship with Carrick from our annual Christmas tournament, so I reached out to the local school athletic rep there, Dustin (Smith), and, fortunately, we were able to bring things together rather quickly once he was able to confirm transportation.”

Carrick is a City League school that is playing an independent schedule for a second straight year.

In the game, Willie Banks-Hicks threw for 107 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score as Bishop Canevin blanked Carrick, 34-0.

“Within 18 hours, we were able to move from not playing to being able to have our kids be able to still go out and compete,” Checketts said.

It was just another week in the unique 2020 football season.

At this point, there are no plans to make up the conference game against Clairton.

Bishop Canevin is in the race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as the Crusaders hope to make the postseason for the first time since 2017.

Tags: Bishop Canevin