The cupboard is bare for Canevin, but coach Bob Jacoby maintains a positive disposition. The Crusaders return only four starters on offense and three on defense. ‘It is slim, but I think we have a good nucleus of about 17 other kids who, once we get them experience, will do well,’ Canevin coach Bob Jacoby said. ‘Once they see some playing time and we get them in the right positions, we should get better as the season goes on, just like last year.’ Canevin is coming off a successful season in which it outscored its opponents, 306-209, and advanced to the WPIAL Class A semifinals where the Crusaders were beaten by Monaca, 32-18. Jacoby believes the postseason experience has had a positive effect on this season’s squad. ‘Any time you can get kids extra practice that is good,’ said Jacoby, who enters his 29th season. ‘Even if some of those kids didn’t see much game time, they still had practice time. That can help going into the following season.’ Jacoby has many voids to fill this season. The biggest is at quarterback, where senion Jason Shapiro and sophomore Lucas Baker are battling for the starting spot. Shapiro stands 6-foot-2 and Parker is 5-6. Shapiro saw some playing time last season when former starter Shawn Quinn suffered a shoulder injury. Parker, meanwhile, has no varsity experience at quarterback, but served as a placekicker. He was the only freshman to letter. The running game should be solid – despite losing the school’s all-time leading rusher in Chris Pfender. Jacoby plans to run the I-formation with senior Brian Masucci at tailback. Junior Lou Tenace and sophomore Shawn McDonald will assist Masucci in the backfield. Tenace was all conference at defensive back last season. ‘We have three pretty good running backs,’ Jacoby said. ‘But again, it is the inexperience factor which will come into play. I am confident that once they get in some games that our running game will be sharp.’ A sharp running game should open the field for the Crusaders’ passing attack. Parker could be part of that by filling in at wide receiver if he doesn’t play quarterback. The other wide receivers are juniors Rich Francis and brothers Charlie and Andy Baker. ‘We have pretty good hands, but not good speed,’ Jacoby said. ‘We will have to run well-disciplined patterns. Last year, we had Tom Vena who was quick and could get behind people and get down field.’ Vena caught 27 passes for 602 yards with eight touchdowns last season. Jacoby anticipates throwing the ball about 15 times per game, similar to last season. ‘I want it to be so they won’t know whether we will run or pass,’ Jacoby said. ‘But the strength of this team should be the offensive line. We have three starters back on the offensive line and two other kids with considerable playing time. We are in pretty good shape there. That should open up our running game.’ The Crusaders will be led on the offensive line by senior center Chris Cieply, junior guard/tackle Rich Napor and senior T.J. Bencho at guard or tackle. Jacoby is concerned about depth at all positions, however. ‘We can’t afford to get anybody hurt because we don’t have a lot of players to come in for them,’ Jacoby said. ‘But once we get experience, that can get us back to the playoffs. Our talented group of freshmen need to get them some playing time, preferably before we get into our conference games. It should be a year of growth for us. If we prepare the kids well by getting them in shape then we should be OK. We just need to get the young kids comfortable in game situations.’

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