Bishop England retools coaching staff, aims to stay healthy this season

The Bishop England High School football team opens its season with a trip to play crosstown rival Porter-Gaud on Aug. 18 in a game known as “The Holy War.”

 

“It’s always a battle,” said John Cantey, who will begin his 16th year as head coach at Bishop England. “Our players are friends with their players. But once they step on the field, it becomes intense. It’s always a battle. Last year’s game was pretty much the highlight of our season.”

 

Indeed, it was. The Bishops blanked the Cyclones 29-0 in the 2022 opener. But that was pretty much the Bishops’ highlight video of 2022. The Bishops won only one more game the rest of the season to finish 2-9. The Bishops scored 72 points in their two wins. However, in their nine losses, they managed just a combined 44.

 

Just how ineffective was the BE offense? The Bishops were shut out four games and twice the offense gave up touchdowns that resulted in losses, including a 12-7 loss to Lake Marion and a 6-0 setback to Timberland on a scoop-and-score.

 

That gave Cantey a reason to retool his coaching staff as former Bishops Leo Albano and Karson Mingo joined the crew as offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively.

 

“We have guys as coaches who played college ball, so their Xs and Os are more dynamic,” Cantey said of Albano, who played for Notre Dame, and Mingo, who played for The Citadel. “It’s awesome we had two guys who played for us to come back as coaches.”

 

But teams don’t win by coaching alone, so Cantey had his players build muscle while increasing their speed and stamina. 

 

The team, which won back-to-back state titles in 2011 and ’12, was more like the walking wounded the past two seasons with a combined record of 5-17 thanks to an inordinate number of injuries, especially to quarterbacks and linemen.

 

Junior Jacob Mackara is the starting quarterback to begin 2023. He looked solid in the offseason with smart decisions and crisp passing. Mackara knows about the injury situation at BE.

 

In the second game of the ’21 season, BE quarterback Marco Pampu went down with a knee injury against Ashley Ridge while Mackara, his backup QB, broke his collarbone in the same game. The Bishops went through five signal callers in a season that produced a 3-8 record and only 11 points a game.

 

Mackara will be pushed by talented freshman William Donato, another player in the backfield who has potential. Dixon Hardy, a hard-nosed player, will get the majority of carries at the running back position.

 

The receiver room is talented and deep with Connor Lane leading the way. He’s a big target at 6-foot-2, and runs crisp routes. Zach Rooney and Andrew Pride also look to be solid targets.

 

While the team was banged up the past couple of seasons, Cantey had health issues that he had been dealing with in a private way. He had to take a leave of absence at Bishop England in 2018, missing about six games, and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.