Riverview struggles to contain Bishop Canevin in conference loss

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 22, 2017 | 10:33 PM

It was a “ruff” night for the Riverview football team.

Bishop Canevin's Jonathan Ruffing finished with four touchdowns to lead the Crusaders to a 35-12 win over the Raiders in a Class 1A Eastern Conference showdown Friday at Dormont Memorial Stadium.

“He is a skilled player,” Bishop Canevin coach Darren Schoppe said. “You can line him up anywhere on the field, and he is a smart player that can play anywhere on the field. He is comfortable being in that position.”

Ruffing had 123 yards passing with three touchdown strikes, 39 yards receiving, a touchdown reception and 24 yards on the ground.

The Riverview defense forced a Bishop Canevin three-and-out on the home team's first possession. But a fumble on the ensuing punt returned the ball to the Crusaders.

Bishop Canevin (2-2, 2-1) capped off the 62-yard drive on Ruffing's 38-yard touchdown pass to Brian DeSchon.

“We need to learn to not go in the tank when something goes wrong,” Riverview coach Matt Bonislawski said. “We fumbled a punt return and blew a coverage, and they scored. We kind of quit. We need to have a short memory.”

On Riverview's next possession, the Crusaders followed a three-and-out with a blocked punt off a bad snap. Zach Trusky scored on a 3-yard run on the next play.

Late in the first half, DeSchon found Ruffing on a 39-yard touchdown pass to boost the Bishop Canevin lead to 21-0. The Raiders (1-3, 1-3) had no first downs at halftime and were outgained 141-2 in the opening half.

“The coaching staff did a great job with them this week,” Schoppe said. “They put the kids in position to make plays.”

Midway through the third quarter, Ben Blacksmith intercepted a DeSchon pass at midfield. It gave the Raiders a spark, and Devon Binz scored four plays later on a 32-yard run.

Binz led Riverview with 113 yards on 16 carries.

“He is a good runner,” Bonislawski said. “He has good speed. If he gets a crease, he is going to hit it. If we can consistently block guys and give him some space to run, we will be fine.”

Ruffing connected on touchdown passes of 65 and 20 yards to DeSchon to grow the lead to 29 in the second half. Luke Coxon scored on an 8-yard touchdown run with just under 2:30 to play, but the Raiders couldn't pull any closer.

“We thought we could come in here and compete a little better than we did,” Bonislawski said. “We knew what they were going to do on defense and on offense. In terms of positives, it wasn't a really competitive football game. So I don't see any positives.

“I have to have these guys ready to play. And that falls on my shoulders.”

Ruffing and DeSchon shared snaps at quarterback. DeSchon had 123 receiving yards with three touchdowns to go with 39 passing yards and a score.

“We are trying to catch teams off-guard,” Schoppe said. “You put packages in week-in and week-out hoping to find something the other team isn't expecting. It worked out tonight.”

Nathan Smith is a freelance writer.

Tags: Bishop Canevin, Riverview