CANONSBURG – Football at Canon-McMillan will look different this season.

First, there is a change in the venerable old stadium: seats have been added, increasing the capacity to about 5,000, and a second press box has been built.

Head coach Mike Evans is back for his 10th season, but you might not recognize the guys who play for the Big Macs. The roster is much different after the Big Macs were hit hard by departures for the second year in a row.

“We’ve lost a lot in the last two years,” Evans said. “If there was a Canon-McMillan Football Hall of Fame, we would have produced 10 or 11 kids in the last two years who were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Not just good players, but record breakers. We need to replace that.”

That shows where Canon-McMillan football has been for a long time and where it has gone under Evans’ leadership. The Big Macs have qualified for the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs each of the last three seasons, meaning the current graduating class has never missed the postseason.

There are some big holes to fill this year. Among the biggest departures is Geno Calgaro, one of the WPIAL’s best linebackers a year ago and now at St. Francis (Pa.), three-year starting quarterback Mikey Evans, who is playing in California, 1,000-yard rusher Zach Welsh and every wide receiver who caught a pass in varsity games last season.

This would cause panic attacks in many coaches, but not in Evans.

“We are young,” he said, “but they are a confident team. I tell people I don’t know if we will win one game or ten. What I do know is that there is a good atmosphere in the dressing room. That was the case in 2019. We lost a lot of players this year too. But this year it doesn’t feel like that. We have the chance to be a good team. We can be good when we are young.”

The Big Macs have some good building blocks. Senior guard Matthew McMahon, a Naval Academy recruit, has started more than 30 games and leads an offensive line that also includes guard Daisean Lacks and Jayden Boeltz, a returning starter who will move from guard to center. The Big Macs need to find two new tackles.

Junior tight end TJ Sabatucci is a strong blocker who will be used more in the passing game, and the Big Macs like the potential of sophomore Brayden Collins, who offers the CM the opportunity to play in multiple tight end formations.

Evans is excited about sophomore running back Troy Simpson, who could be the Big Macs’ next 1,000-yard runner. They have produced seven 1,000-yard running backs in the last nine years.

“He’s a stud,” Evans said of Stimpson. “He’s really fast. He’s only a sophomore, but he was a starter on defense last year. If you want to play running back, this is where you should play. We think he’s next.”

Leading the offense will be second-year quarterback Ty Jansma, who started two games a year ago and brings athleticism to the position.

Defensively, the Big Macs improved last year when they went 6-5 and lost to North Allegheny in the first round of the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs. Canon-McMillan’s defense managed two shutouts and held two other opponents to single-digit scores.

Evans said junior strong safety Marco Faieta was the state’s best tackler among sophomores last year. The front seven should be strong again with Lacks, McMahon and Sabatucci on the line and Collins, Stimpson and juniors Logan Logsdon and Ryan Blynn at linebacker.

The Big Macs play in a larger conference, as Class 6A includes seven schools, with Central Catholic and North Allegheny again considered favorites for the conference title. The Big Macs play nonconference games against Peters Township, Upper St. Clair, South Fayette and Armstrong before entering conference play.

“Our goal hasn’t changed,” Evans said. “We want to win a playoff game and have a home playoff game. That’s something we haven’t had. It’s frustrating, but we’ve built a foundation.”