SPIRIT OF GIVING DOOMS AVON GROVE: Shanahan forces 4 Red Devil turnovers, moves to 4-0
DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. – Christmas might be more than 80 days away, but both Avon Grove and Bishop Shanahan were in rather giving moods Saturday afternoon.
Between seven combined turnovers, some missed opportunities and a blown 16-point lead, the only things missing from the “giving” atmosphere were the gift wrap, ribbons and bows.
Bishop Shanahan (4-0, 1-0 ChesMont) intercepted Avon Grove (2-2, 0-1) quarterback Toby Fiala four times and finished with 340 yards of total offense en route to a 32-22 victory from sun-splashed Jack Mancini Field Saturday afternoon in Downingtown.
When you think of Chester County football, the names that spring to mind are probably Downingtown East, Downingtown West, or Coatesville. Hardly Bishop Shanahan.
But yet, here these Eagles are – off to its best start ever in school history.
The 4-0 start is unprecedented for Shanahan. It has never begun a season 4-0, let alone 3-0 – the record with which it entered the Avon Grove game. This is all uncharted territory for the green and silver, but Eagles’ head man Paul Myers and junior field general Ryan Egolf know what this team is capable of.
“It’s a whole different attitude this year,” Egolf said. “Everyone just stays calm. We’re all confident. We all feel like we’re going to win (each game).”
Myers’ take?
“It’s our seniors,” Myers said. “They help keep everyone’s heads (from getting big). At practice each day, they want to rip into people. You’d think we were an 0-4 team.”
Shanahan wasted little time in showing the Red Devils it was for real, recovering the opening kickoff at the AG 20 yard line and scoring two plays later, when Mike “Hurricane” Ibarguen scored from nine yards out.
The Eagles added two more first half touchdowns – a 73-yard run by Keegan Lawton and an 8-yard pass from Egolf to Chris Cordivari to build a 22-6 halftime lead.
When the first 24 minutes were in the books, Shanahan had outgained Avon Grove 235 to 60, and the Red Devils lone score came from a 13-yard run by senior tailback Brandon Monk.
“I thought we lost the game on the first possession (when Shanahan recovered the kickoff),” said AG head coach Marvin Dooley. “But we did make a game of it.”
The Devils got back into the game by forcing three Eagle turnovers in the second half – two fumbles and an interception – and also getting a crack inside the the Shanahan 10-yard line with a snap over the punter’s head that lost 25 yards.
Fiala hit scoring passes of 25 yards to Brendan Fabien and 24 yards to Kevin Pankonien, and both two point conversion plays were successful (a Monk run and a Fiala pass to Sam Benson) to knot things up at 22-all with 7:49 left in the game.
Shanahan lost five players to different injuries in the first half, and both Myers and Egolf admitted it took the back-ups a little time to get into the flow of things. But they sure picked a good time to wake up.
Egolf moved Shanhan down the field in four plays, the last of which came on a 45-yard scoring pass to Cordivari with 5:48 left and staked Shanahan to a 29-22 lead. Following a Fiala INT, senior Adam Kaminski nailed a 32-yard field goal to cap the scoring.
“We couldn’t get to him,” Dooley said, referencing his defense’s inability to pressure Egolf, who threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns. “Give them credit – they made big plays and they’re a scrappy football team.”
Lawton paced the Eagles’ ground attack with 90 yards on 10 carries; Ibarguen added 39 yards on eight totes and Mason Dreiling added 35 yards on 10 carries.
Avon Grove’s normally-potent rushing offense was stifled to 67 yards on 28 carries. Monk finished with 74 hard-earned yards on 17 carries – most of those yards came in the first quarter and a half before Shanahan stiffened defensively. Fiala threw for 83 yards and two touchdowns, but only completed 7-of-21 passes.
“They sent a lot of guys on pressure,” Dooley said of Shanahan’s defense. “Our line struggled to contain them.”
