Norwin rebounds with lopsided win over Canon-McMillan

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 22, 2017 | 10:48 PM

Previous Next

Previous Next

Norwin responded from a one-sided loss a week ago with one of its own Friday night.

Jack Salopek passed for 256 yards and two touchdowns, and Norwin converted a slew of Canon-McMillan mistakes into points to capture a 34-14 Class 6A Southeastern Conference victory over the visiting Big Macs.

“That's the idea, to take advantage of as many mistakes by your opponent as you possibly can,” Norwin coach Dave Brozeski said. “It was nice to see the kids respond the way they did tonight.”

Norwin (3-2, 2-1) scored following three fumble recoveries, an interception and a fourth-down penalty, bouncing back from a 27-7 loss a week ago to No. 3 Bethel Park.

“We really had a good week in practice,” Brozeski said, adding that he was quite pleased with his coaching staff's approach to the Canon-McMillan game.

“Those guys addressed some of our needs that we saw against Bethel Park, and they took it to the field and worked with the kids,” Brozeski said. “Our defensive line played great today, and our guys didn't turn the ball over, which is big.”

Salopek completed 10 of 20 passes, including 15 yards to William Kerston and 35 yards to Gianni Rizzo for touchdowns, spearheading an efficient Norwin offense.

Jayvon Thrift scored twice on runs of 2 and 3 yards and Carter Breen kicked a pair of field goals from 25 and 26 yards out for the Knights, who led 27-0 before Canon-McMillan (2-3, 1-2) got on the board on a 12-yard pass from backups Jonathan Quinque to Dillon O'Donoghue near the end of the third quarter.

“We found out we have a little more depth than we thought we had,” Canon-McMillan coach Mike Evans said. “We've got some injuries, but we can't let that get in the way. We've got to have guys step up and make plays.

“I look at that scoreboard now and I'm sick. We've played these guys twice and we haven't played well.”

Norwin defeated Canon-McMillan, 40-6, in 2016 in the teams' first meeting since the WPIAL's latest realignment plan placed them in the same conference.

Norwin took advantage of Canon-McMillan's mistakes to take a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Big Macs were flagged for an illegal substitution penalty when Norwin was setting up to punt on fourth down, leading to a 25-yard field goal by Breen.

On Canon-McMillan's next possession, Norwin's John Piekut intercepted a pass by quarterback Trejahn Lewis at the Big Macs 20. Two plays later, Norwin scored its lone first-half touchdown on a 15-yard shovel pass from Salopek to Kerston.

Norwin extended its lead to 13-0 in the second quarter on Breen's second field goal, a 26-yarder with 7:29 remaining. A 49-yard pass reception by Dylan Kantz set up the play.

Canon-McMillan wasted a chance to get on the board when Joshua Byers missed wide left on a 32-yard field goal attempt before Norwin nearly added on with 6 seconds left before halftime. But Breen's 32-yard field goal attempt also was wide left.

“We had some good conversions on third down,” Brozeski said. “That really kept the ball rolling for us on a number of occasions and we were able to capitalize.”

Norwin jumped on Canon-McMillan early in the second half, scoring twice in a span of 32 seconds. Thrift scored both times following fumble recoveries by Jake Smetak and Kantz to give the Knights a 27-0 lead.

It was 27-7 when Noah Masten recovered yet another fumble for Norwin that set up Rizzo's 35-yard touchdown catch from Salopek after Rizzo had forced Quinque to fumble on the previous play.

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Norwin