Nov 8, 2025 By Rob Burchianti 6 min read

(To be updated with photos.)

CANONSBURG — The sudden rejuvenation of Frazier’s football program this season included a late-season push to make the WPIAL playoffs and a first-round victory at California.

The Commodores’ comeback campaign came to an end at Canon-McMillan’s AHN Field against Bishop Canevin on Friday night.

Myontae Mott ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns and Damar Olds accounted for a trio of TDs as the third-seeded Crusaders rolled to a 50-7 victory in the Class A quarterfinal game.

Bishop Canevin (9-3) advances to the semifinals against second-seeded Clairton, which held off 10th-seeded Jeannette, 38-33. Frazier, the No. 11 seed, ends the year with a 7-5 record.

Commodores first-year head coach Tony Battaglini focused on the big picture after the defeat.

“In January if you’d have said Frazier was going to get to the playoffs and win a game to make it to the second round, I don’t think you’d have found anybody outside of the 30 or so of us involved in the program that even thought that was a possibility,” Battaglini said. “I’m super proud of these kids and what they were able to accomplish.

“They should be proud of themselves also. There are not a whole lot of rebuilds that happen as quickly as this did, to get to seven wins after winning four games in the last four years. I hope they understand how impressive that is.”

Frazier got off to a strong start on its way to a 27-12 win at sixth-seeded California in the first round but was unable to duplicate that against the Crusaders.

Bishop Canevin took the opening kickoff and briskly moved 58 yards in six plays with 48 of those coming on four runs by Mott, including a 20-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead.

The Commodores gamely tried to answer with a 16-play drive sparked by the determined running of Derek Diamond, who had 11 carries for 58 yards in the march. Diamond accounted for all four first downs in the drive with three coming on third or fourth down. The senior gained 21 yards on fourth and 2, 3 yards on third and 3 and 11 yards on third and 11.

The possession covered 58 yards and took 7:18 off the clock but sputtered out at the Crusaders 6-yard line with a pair of incomplete passes by Brady Secrest, one of which was dropped in the end zone.

Mott exploded for a 94-yard touchdown run on the next play with Leo Shorthouse’s extra point making it 14-0 with 1:19 left in the opening quarter.

“You march all the way down inside the 10 and it looked like we were going to do the same thing we’ve done to essentially everyone this year and just pound the ball, control the clock and score,” Battaglini said. “But instead we stall out and I think that was a major letdown for us. Then them scoring on the very next play really took the wind out of our sails.

“You’ve got to be able to capitalize. Everyone is good now, especially when you’re in the second round of the playoffs. There are no easy games.”

The game quickly spiraled out of control for the Commodores in the second quarter.

Following a three-and-out by Frazier, Bishop Canevin drove 42 yards in four plays with Olds throwing a 34-yard pass to Justin Melvin on fourth and 2 for the score and then running in the two-point conversion after a bobbled extra-point snap for a 22-0 lead.

Three plays later Olds intercepted a long third-down pass by Secrest and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown to make it 29-0.

After another three-and-out by the Commodores, the Crusaders went on a six-play, 68-yard touchdown drive capped by Neuval Bone’s 10-yard run. Bishop Canevin faked the extra-point kick but Olds threw incomplete, leaving the score at 35-0.

The Crusaders’ William Lee III intercepted a pass on Frazier’s next play from scrimmage and returned it 15 yards to the Commodores 39. Olds scored five plays later on a 10-yard run with one second left in the half for a commanding 42-0 advantage.

Bishop Canevin’s defense, helped by a few Frazier drops, held Secrest without a completion on 13 pass attempts.

“They were able to get a lot of pressure on our quarterback and they have some really skilled guys in their secondary,” Battaglini said. “There were a lot of tight windows we would’ve had to fit the ball into. We left some plays out there where we had guys open. But credit to them, we tip our hat to those guys.

“They had a significant size advantage up front. The Butler kid (6-foot-6, 330-pound Charles Butler Jr.) they had in the middle was a force all day. Minikon Johnson, he was a force. That’s a really good football team over there. We’ve been pretty strong up front, controlling the line most in most of our games this year but tonight we weren’t able to do that the way we like to.”

With the Mercy Rule in effect the second half went swiftly with no scoring in the third quarter. Bishop Canevin tacked on its final touchdown on Dominic Cisnero-Torres’ 4-yard run with 9:28 left in the game. The Crusaders; seemingly intent on getting to 50 points, again faked the extra-point kick with Olds throwing a two-point conversion pass to Disnero-Torres.

Frazier averted the shutout with an eight-play, 91-yard drive on its final possession capped by Diamond’s 30-yard touchdown run with 1:05 remaining. Owen Searcy added the extra point.

Diamond had 23 carries for 114 yards in his final game with the Commodores.

“Derek has been our leader, he’s been our guy all year,” Battaglini said. “To get him in the end zone there at the end, he was very deserving of that so I was happy for him.”

Bone had 12 carries for 86 yards and Olds ran four times for 35 yards for Bishop Canevin. Olds connected on 4 of his 5 throws for 101 yards with three going to Melvin for 72 yards.

“Of course they’re upset right now,” Battaglini said of his players. “This sucks, no one wants to lose. You’d like to make it to the semifinals. That’s a huge accomplishment.

“But what they’ve done, what those seniors have done, the foundation they’ve laid, they should be congratulated for that.”