#6 Richland vs #3 Bishop Guilfoyle Game Preview
Tagged under: District 6, Gameday Hub, News, pfn
Baron Dionis | August 29, 2025
Arguably the game of the week has gotten all of the spotlight on Saturday night as two ranked teams in the Laurel Highlands battle at Mansion Park. #6 Richland (2A) travels to face off against #3 Bishop Guilfoyle (1A) at 7 PM on Saturday night as the lone game in the area.
Both teams are coming off of strong wins in week one and back up their respective rankings. Richland in the classification above them, knows that the school size does not matter with a program as strong as Bishop Guilfoyle, the defending state champion at 1A. Bishop Guilfoyle once again has a Division 1 prospect leading their offense in Jake Kissell and he shined against Penns Valley week one. And they were without Taurean Consiglio as well. Richland knows that is a tough runner to stop on Saturday night.
“Both teams have outstanding players in the skill positions,” Richland Head Coach Brandon Bailey stated. “However, this game will be won in the trenches with the winning team likely being the team that controls the line of scrimmage.”
Kissell went crazy against Penns Valley, accounting for 231 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He holds an offer from Robert Morris as an outside linebacker, a position where he had two tackles for a loss last week.
“Jake was absolutely terrific and week one and we know we’ll get his best game every week but to win big games against great opponents,” Bishop Guilfoyle Head Coach Justin Wheeler explained. “We have to be more balanced so we will look to wide receivers Tyson Lestochi and Evan Schimminger as well as the other running backs to all have impacts this week. Those running backs would include Jack Gioiosa, Keegan Hewitt and Conner Okonak. Our quarterback, Justin Wheeler is also a threat with its legs and he had 100 yards rushing in week one he’ll need to continue to do that as well.”
The Marauders aren’t the only squad with a stud runner. Joe McAneny is a very strong running back in this Ram offense. The main headline in their offense though is Arnold Mugerwa, who has received a ton of offers from the Power 5 level, most recently securing an offer from the University of Cincinnati.
“Arnold is an excellent player and a great teammate,” Coach Bailey said. “For him to maximize his opportunities this year, we need to continue to be balanced on offense, featuring multiple players in our offensive scheme. This will make it difficult for defenses to double team him.”
Mugerwa and McAneny are also joined by Jamere Christian and Grayson Mahla as other athletes in this offense. Sophomore Jacob Regan has become the teams starting quarterback after leading the Rams to two playoff wins, replacing an injured Mahla last season.
“I’m not sure if there’s any way to stop all of Richland’s weapons,” Coach Wheeler explained. “They are loaded in almost every position so our job will be to try not to give up the big plays. Will need to be better as a unit on defense and communicate more this week for sure. With all of the weapons they have even the slightest error could be a very costly mistake. Mugerwa is probably the best wide receiver we have ever faced. He has everything size speed, athletic ability. It will take our best effort to even slow him down.”
Bishop Guilfoyle has just as many weapons, but they are a bit younger than Richland. Tyson Lestochi is a strong receiver they would like to get the ball to more, along with Evan Schimminger. Getting him these athletes the ball is a little different from last year as a new quarterback has jumped into the mix and it is Coach Wheelers son, Justin Wheeler. He looked solid in his first game, rushing for over 100 yards and adding 71 through the air.
“I thought Justin played extremely well,” Coach Wheeler commented. “He was terrific with his legs all game and was our second leading rusher with 100 yards rushing. He was able to scramble when there was pressure and use his feet to not allow sack. This week Richard’s defense is very good and he’ll not only need to be better with his feet, but also throwing the ball to try to keep their defense off balance.”
Bishop Guilfoyle will need to rush like they did last week and stop a veteran filled Richland offense. If they can slow down Mugerwa and company, they’ll be in good shape.
Same goes for Richland. Limiting Kissell in the backfield will likely decide this game. They cannot let him rush for 9.2 yards a carry like he did a week ago.
This is a very even matchup with high rankings at stake. Both have a fair shot of meeting each other later in the season for the LHAC crossover game in Week 10, while also being dangerous teams in the D6 playoffs. This game for both will definitely show them what they have for their plans of playoffs down the road.
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