Big Macs looking to future, not past
Canon-McMillan wide receiver Anthony Sacco high-steps during warmups at Memorial Stadium.
Canon-McMillan senior quarterback Dom Eannace is a returning starter.
Canon McMillan’s new coach, Mike Evans, gets ready to roatate offensive linemen during practice. Evans comes to Canon-McMillan after being the offensive line coach at California University.
CANONSBURG – The freshly rolled turf glistened in the August sun at Memorial Stadium as Canon-McMillan’s players strapped on new helmets that look much like the University of Michigan’s with yellow winged stripes.
Several assistant coaches wore shirts that read, “Fighting Big Macs Football.”
It’s all a part of first-year head coach Mike Evans’ plan to re-energize a program that fell on difficult times since Miami Dolphins linebacker Mike Hull was a junior with the Big Macs in 2008. Since then, Canon-McMillan is 6-40 with zero playoff appearances and is on its fifth head coach.
Evans is not looking in the rearview mirror and neither are the seniors who have their third coach in less than a year. That has meant numerous playbooks and different verbiage.
“(Coach Evans) has told us since the first day that we can win games in this conference,” senior tight end/defensive end Jordan Smith said. “Among the players, we don’t want to be like the team last year or the one before that. The seniors have played together since we were 6 and we always won when we were younger. We want to win in high school, too.”
A new playing surface, fresh helmet decals and strongly worded adjectives don’t win football games. But Evans, a former offensive line coach at California University, is reshaping the program to instill belief in a group of kids who have been told winning in the Southeastern Conference is not possible at Canon-McMillan.
It hasn’t been done on a regular basis, but Evans believes with the help of an experienced coaching staff and dedication of an inexperienced roster, change can be positive. The Big Macs lost 15 seniors, including Alex Paulina, a freshman offensive lineman at Pitt, and three other starting linemen.
“I looked at the film enough to know I would love to have had some of those guys back, but we don’t,” Evans said. “We have a lot of young guys stepping up, which is great for the future, but we’re trying to get them ready now. The only way we’ll get better is through competition. Kids have to be pushed.”
As preseason camp opened, that competition was evident at quarterback, where senior Dom Eannace and junior Jordan Castelli were each commanding Evans’ offense, which has both pro-style and spread concepts.
Eannace has the advantage of experience after leading Canon-McMillan’s spread attack last season under former offensive coordinator and interim head coach Terry George. The eventual starter can rely on junior running back Bryan Milligan and junior fullback Brennan Handyside.
The Big Macs also have athleticism in the passing game with Smith switching from quarterback to tight end and senior wide receiver Ahmad Morris-Walker at wide receiver, but it’s still unknown what the unit’s strength will be in 2015.
“We’re doing a little bit of everything on offense,” Evans said. “We’re still far away from Week 1, so we’ll whittle down and whittle down to see who we are. I think one of the biggest things as a high school coach is you have to do what your kids are good at, not necessarily what you want to do.”
Like the offense, the defense is an unknown. Smith moved to defensive end and three other spots are open in the 4-4 base, but Evans can rest easy knowing his linebackers are the strength for coordinator Damien Petragas.
Seniors Nick Konyk and Shane Danyo are back and bring the level of intensity that is needed in a conference in which stopping the run is critical.
“We bring intensity,” Danyo said of the linebackers. “Every play we’re going to hit someone as hard as we can. We’ll bring the ball carrier down and help our team win. We lost good linemen on both sides, but that group looks good so far. Our secondary was shaky last year, but we might have the right pieces.”
There is little time for learning once the season kicks off Friday against Mt. Lebanon. The schedule is daunting, but there is clean slate for Canon-McMillan this fall.
“Kids have to be pushed,” Evans said. “You need a number of players at each position at this level. I don’t want anyone comfortable. I want them all fighting. I don’t know if very many people on this team know if they are a starter or not right now. I don’t want them comfortable.”