In fifteen years, there are few things that the Bishop Shanahan Eagles never accomplished on the gridiron. You can cross off winning a District One AAA playoff game and hosting a playoff game off the list tonight, as the Eagles hammered the Upper Moreland Golden Bears by a score of 37-7. The game was pushed back to 4:15pm and the location was changed to Great Valley High School’s Valley Stadium, due to SAT’s and a school play at Bishop Shanahan.
Not only is Bishop Shanahan the smallest (only AAA) school in the National Division of the Ches-Mont League, but head coach Paul Meyers is the only coach the Eagles have had since re-starting football in 1999. Meyers is among the classiest coaches in District 1. He and his team handle themselves with class no matter the result.
The Eagles got off to a bit of an auspicious start, due to a bad call to end their first drive. The Eagles drove the ball 66 yards in 13 plays down to the Upper Moreland two-yard line, when Dan Murphy appeared to at least have a first down (and a Shanahan touchdown to boot), only to have the referees rule that he fumbled the ball, and it was Upper Moreland ball on their own 11-yard line.
That possession, and Shanahan’s defense set a tone of domination all game. In the first half, the Golden Bears had six possessions. They had four punts (three of them were three and outs), a turnover on a one-play drive, a kneel down, minus three yards of offense, and one first down. Nor did the Golden Bears cross midfield.
On Shanahan’s third possession (second one was an interception on a trick play), the Eagles drove 69 yards in nine plays, capped off by Kevin Stine’s 18-yard run. It didn’t take long for the Eagles to double their lead, as Pat Corcoran returned a punt 47 yards to paydirt, after Upper Moreland’s only drive over three plays.
It took all of three plays for Shanahan to nearly double their lead from 14-0 to 27-0. Princeton-bound Tight End and Linebacker Cody Smith hauled in a Murphy pass, and went 65 yards for a score to make it 21-0. After another punt, Kevin Stine rumbled 28 yards to pay dirt to cap off a two- play drive. Geiger put the Eagles up 30-0 on a 28 yard Field Goal.
The Golden Bears did get on the scoreboard when Tyler Whitmore plowed in from four yards out. Murphy capped off the scoring on a 41-yard run.
After the game, Paul Meyers continued to preach to his team to, “Focus and be smart. Although this is the school’s playoff game ever, it belongs to you guys, not me.” Regarding the game he said, “Our defense set a tone early tonight. The change of venue did not bother us one bit. We just kept focused, watched our film, and realized that we are more physical than them.”
Regarding the smothering Shanahan defense, the Eagles held Upper Moreland to 104 yards of offense, led by dominating performances by Doug Costin and Cody Smith. For Shanahan, Murphy was 6-7 passing for (126 yards, 1 score), and ran for 58 yards and a score (8 carries). Kevin Stine ran for 101 yards (16 carries), Nick Pasvanis had 59 yards (13 carries), Sprague had 49 yards (3 catches). Upper Moreland’s lone bright spot on offense was Tyler Whitmore, who ran for 110 yards on 25 carries.
Up next for Bishop Shanahan (8-3) is the District 1 AAA semifinals at Great Valley (10-1), the second game in a row at Valley Stadium. This is also one of two District 1 playoff games involving Ches-Mont teams playing each other- Coatesville (11-0) hosts West Chester Henderson (8-3) in the AAAA bracket. The only difference is that Shanahan and Great Valley are in opposite divisions in the Ches-Mont.
For Upper Moreland (7-4), their next game is Thanksgiving Day against Hatboro-Horsham (3-8).
Scoring
BSHS- 0-27-3-7- 37
UMHS-0- 0- 0-7 – 7
BSHS- Kevin Stine 18 run (Geiger kick)
BSHS- Corcoran 47 yard punt return (Geiger kick)
BSHS- Smith 65 pass from Murphy (Geiger kick)
BSHS- Stine 28 run (kick failed)
BSHS- Geiger 28 FG
UMHS- Whitmore 4 run (Meale kick)
BSHS- Murphy 41 run (Geiger kick)
One Response
This is an excellent article on how Coach Meyers and his team portray themselves win or lose year after year. Coach Meyers and his players are always a class act. They play in the tough Ches-Mont league against much larger schools with football programs that have been very successful. This year was very special because the senior class was the first football team at Shanahan to have an undefeated team as freshmen.