They’re dancing on Woodbine Avenue in Downingtown and singing “Shake Up The Ches-Mont” as Ryan Egolf hit Mike Ibarguen with a 3 yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds to play to complete a 20 point fourth quarter as Bishop Shanahan upset Bayard Rustin 40-37 Friday Night in a Ches-Mont cross division game at Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium at West Chester East High School.
“That last drive was all Ryan Egolf,” said a very elated and drenched Bishop Shanahan Coach Paul Meyers. “The two minute drive is all him. When they scored, he said we are going down the field coach,” Meyers added.
“I’ve been working on my reads,” said Eglof, who finished 19-30 for 200 yards and three touchdowns. “I’m just throwing to a spot and trust that my receivers will be there”.
Starting on the Golden Knight 20, Egolf drove the Eagles the 80 yards on seven pass plays. He hit a 22 yard pass to Kyle Sullivan (7 catches 94 yards) to open the drive. Eight more yards to Keegan Lawton gave the Eagles a first down. A five yard catch by Ibarguen gave Shanahan (2-0) a first down on the Golden Knight 45. Two pass plays to Sullivan that totaled 28 yards followed along with a 14 yard pass to Chris Cordivari. Ibarguen then scored on the next play to seal the win for the Eagles.
Trailing 33-30 Bayard Rustin (1-1) scored with 1:12 left in the game as Frankie O’Donnell scored on a three yard run that capped a 65 yard 13 play drive. The drive was aided by a roughing the passer penality against Shanahan that gave Rustin a first down on the Shanahan 25 yard line.
” I thought we scored to early,” said Golden Knight Head Coach Mike St. Clair. “I knew they could go down the field in a hurry”.
Scoring in a hurry were the Golden Knights in the first quarter as Cordairo Taylor scored on a 66 yard run on the fourth play of the game. Will Mau then added his first of four extra points as they led 7-0 just 2:02 into the game.
Following a short 20 yard punt by Shanahan, Rustin was set up on the Eagle 40. They needed eight plays to go the 40 yards as O’Donnell hauled in a 19 yard pass from Andrew Fithian as Rustin increased their lead to 13-0.
Both teams then traded field goals as Adam Kamanski got the first points on the board for the Eagles as he connected on a 22 yard field goal and Mau nailed one from 30 yards out that made the score 16-3 Rustin with8:04 left in the second quarter.
They also traded touchdowns as Ibarguen scored on a three yard run and hit Mason Dreiling on a two point conversion to cut the Golden Knight lead to 16-11 with 4:38 left in the second quarter. Then with 1:15 left before half-time, Andrew Nash took a slant pass from Fithian and raced 58 yards for the touchdown as Rustin took a 23-11 halftime lead. Fithian finished the nite 8-11 for 193 yards and two touchdowns. Nash has three of the cathces for 91 yards.
“This was a good game,” said St. Clair. “It’s nicer if you come out on the other end,” he added.
Lost in all the offensive explosion was the fact that Shanahan’s defense only allowed 14 second half points created two fumble recoveries that both led to touchdowns. The biggest play of the game however, may have been a safety as DeVante Dixon was tackled in the endzone for the first score of the second half that cut the Rustin lead to 23-13. Dixon finished as the leading rusher in the game with 138 yards on 19 carries.
“I was tired of hearing about Rustin,” said Shanahan starting center Shawn McGuire. “We made a pledge this week that they weren’t going to beat us. Dan Skahan, Brian Gale, Jake Zabel and Colin Egan. Those are the guys on the offensive line with me.”
“We lost 60-6 last year, so this tells you where our program is headed,” said Meyers. “This is going to skyrocket us.”
With the win, Bishop Shanhan takes on Chichester in their home opener next Saturday afternoon while Bayard Rustin has to regroup and travel back to Zimmerman Stadium, but this time as the visitor as they take on sister school West Chester East next Friday nite.
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