JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley’s football team was not void of splash plays Friday night. They had a number of them, but as was the case in last week’s loss to Peters Township, the positives were overshadowed by breakdowns and costly mistakes.

They conspired to first take SV’s early lead away, then held the Raiders back in their attempt to rally in a 33-21 conference loss to Canon-McMillan at NexTier Stadium Friday night.

SV’s frustration came to a head when, trailing 27-21 in the fourth quarter, errant shotgun snaps derailed consecutive drives.

The Big Macs (1-2, 1-1), who had missed a 37-yard field goal with under nine minutes to play, cashed in when Jake Kasper scored from a yard out — his fourth touchdown of the game — pushing the lead to 12 points with under six minutes left.

SV’s last gasp saw the Raiders move the ball to Canon-Mac’s 47 before Graham Hancox’s pass on fourth down was tipped and intercepted.

“There were some mistakes we made tonight that are very difficult to overcome,” said SV coach Ron Butschle. “But I’m not going to single out any one thing or any one player. There were a lot of plays in this game where we missed opportunities.”

The Raiders (1-2, 0-1) were looking for a better defensive effort after allowing 342 passing yards to Peters Township a week ago, but the Big Macs took just nine plays to march 90 yards to paydirt on the opening drive. Kasper scored his first touchdown on a 23-yard jaunt, but quarterback Mike Evans connected with tight end Kaeden Singleton three times on the drive for 49 yards, including a 21-yard gain on a 3rd-and-8 from his own 12-yard line.

“He actually passed the ball more early on than I thought he would,” said Big Macs’ coach Mike Evans of his son. “He usually goes to the line with two or three plays in his head. We had Seneca’s defense pretty spread out and the box looked good for us to run the ball.”

The Raiders answered the early score with back-to-back touchdowns. Hancox scored on a 6-yard run to tie the game. Then after forcing the Big Macs to punt, Hancox made them pay for covering Jackson Wetzel with single coverage. The duo hooked up for an 87-yard pass play. Jacob Adams’ point after had the Raiders up 14-7 as the second quarter began.

That’s when Canon-Mac turned to its ground game. Caleb Bailey had a 26-yard run to help set up a 2-yard plunge from Kasper that knotted the game.

On their next drive, Kasper got the call three straight times and gained 27 yards. Evans’ 11-yard scoring toss to Austyn Winkleblech gave the Big Macs a 21-14 lead at halftime.

“We’ve got good players, but we’re just struggling to find a rhythm,” said Butschle.

Kasper scored again in the third period for a 27-14 edge. Evans was intercepted by Luke Lawson on his team’s next drive and the Raiders drove 58 yards and scored on Hancox’s 15-yard run to cut the deficit to six points.

Kasper finished the game with 24 carries for 152 yards.

SV was held to minus-8 yards rushing, due largely to the errant snaps.

A loss would have dropped the Big Macs to 0-2 in a conference with just five teams.

“I didn’t want to put the pressure on the kids by calling this a must-win, but I’m sure they felt it,” said Coach Evans.

Prior to the game, the SV Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 was recognized. Inductees included Tony DeRiggi, Da'Lynn Mills, Kevan Smith and the 1992 varsity softball team.

SV plays a non-conference game at Pine-Richland next Friday.

Canon-McMillan 33, Seneca Valley 21

Canon-McMillan 7 14 6 6 — 33

Seneca Valley 14 0 7 0 — 21

First Quarter

CM — Jake Kasper 23 run (Zach Barzd kick), 7:53

SV — Graham Hancox 6 run (Jacob Adams kick), 4:20

SV — Jackson Wetzel 87 pass from Hancox (Adams kick), :16

Second Quarter

CM — Kasper 2 run (Barzd kick), 7:39

CM — Austyn Winkleblech 11 pass from Mike Evans (Barzd kick), 2:07

Third Quarter

CM — Kasper 1 run (kick blocked), 7:56

SV — Hancox 15 run (Adams kick), 1:20

Fourth Quarter

CM — Kasper 1 run (kick failed), 5:46

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Canon-McMillan, Jake Kasper 24-152, Mike Evans 6-(-2), Caleb Bailey 10-68; Seneca Valley, Wyatt Craver 10-28, Amari Henson 1-2, Graham Hancox 13-(-34), Max Scanlan 2-(-4), Sean O’Shea 1-0.

Passing: Canon-McMillan, Mike Evans 12-23-150-1; Seneca Valley, Graham Hancox 18-27-249-1.

Receiving: Canon-McMillan, Kaeden Singleton 3-49, Vinny Sutherland 1-10, Ben Urso 2-18, Jake Kasper 1-5, Treyvon Mullen 2-20, Austyn Winkleblech 2-43, Kent McMahon 1-5; Seneca Valley, Jackson Wetzel 5-117, Wyatt Craver 1-34, Amari Henson 10-78, Luke Lawson 2-20.