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2009 Football Team
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Important Dates:
Financial Aid 3/23
Spring Ball 6/2
Camp-@ Shanahan 8/16-20
Camp @ Camp Arrowhead Lewes, DE 8/22-23
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Senior Chris Cusick - Has been named the Recipient of the Donovan McNabb Award
Chris was chosen for exhibiting great effort on the field and in the classroom,
as well as showing great character off the field.
Chris and Coach Meyers were guests at the Eagles vs. Washington Game and then spent time with Donovan McNabb afterwards.
Congratulations Chris!
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The Eagles end 2009 season winning 3 out of last 4 games.
It was a 31-18 win over Kennett. Keegan Lawton scored twice. Ryan Egolf had a big day passing for 19 for 25 for 208 yards and 1 TD.
The defense played tough!
It's 2 in a row for the Eagles
After suffering some lopsided losses early in the season, a very young Bishop Shanahan football team has found its legs and is growing up in a hurry. Saturday afternoon at Jack Mancini Stadium, the Eagles started 14 underclassmen against Octorara.
One of those underclassmen, junior running back Keegan Lawton, had the game of his life, rushing for 155 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns to lead the Eagles to a 22-7 nonleague win over the Braves.
Lawton also hauled in an 18-yard scoring strike from sophomore quarterback Ryan Egolf. The Shanahan defense, meanwhile, intercepted five Octorara passes to complete the dominant performance.
"We lost some games early by a lot but we just keep going," Lawton said. "Today it was nice to really move the football and my offensive line was great. We made a promise as a team that we would win our last four games of the season and now we have two in a row so we are halfway there."
Things did not look so rosy for Shanahan (3-5) early as the first-year Braves went on a 15-play, 78-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. Octorara was sparked by the tough running of Nate Ronan and Josh Bowman. The pair sliced and diced their way through the Eagles defense and it appeared that the Braves (2-6) would be able to control the line of scrimmage the entire game.
"We had not driven down the field like that all season," Octorara head coach Jed King said. "It was a real nice long drive and it may have tired us out a little bit. We started to go down on contact a little after that. But our kids never quit and we had to open things up and throw the ball deep and we got hurt by the picks."
Shanahan's defense stiffened after the opening drive, limiting Octorara to just 77 yards rushing on the day, after giving up just six points last week in a 10-6 win over West Chester East. Shanahan was led by Pat McCloskey, Scott Nulty and Zach Barbera, who all picked off passes by Braves quarterback Dan Solomon.
"Our defense came alive after the first drive," Shanahan coach Paul Meyers said. "And all the credit goes to coach Jeff Sampson who just does a great job with those guys. The last two weeks they have been fantastic for us."
Barbera's interception at the Shanahan 36 yard line led to a 10-play, 64-yard drive that ended when Lawton grabbed Egolf's 18-yard TD pass as teh Eagles built a 15-7 halftime advantage.
Shanahan then went on its most impressive drive of the season when Ryan Ficca picked off Solomon at the Eagles three-yard line. What followed was a 14-play, 97-yard scoring drive with Lawton doing most of the damage, including an 18-yard scamper for the score.
"We talked about finishing strong and it is important to us," Lawton said. "We want to get things going and really take off next season."
Octorara continued to try to throw the ball downfield, despite constant pressure from the Eagles' front line. Solomon did manage to pass for 140 yards, but the five interceptions hurt the Braves' cause.
"The kids deserve this win," Meyers said. "We had our best week of practice this week and that says something about the dedication and heart of these kids. They want to win out to finish the season."
One of those underclassmen, junior running back Keegan Lawton, had the game of his life, rushing for 155 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns to lead the Eagles to a 22-7 nonleague win over the Braves.
Lawton also hauled in an 18-yard scoring strike from sophomore quarterback Ryan Egolf. The Shanahan defense, meanwhile, intercepted five Octorara passes to complete the dominant performance.
"We lost some games early by a lot but we just keep going," Lawton said. "Today it was nice to really move the football and my offensive line was great. We made a promise as a team that we would win our last four games of the season and now we have two in a row so we are halfway there."
Things did not look so rosy for Shanahan (3-5) early as the first-year Braves went on a 15-play, 78-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. Octorara was sparked by the tough running of Nate Ronan and Josh Bowman. The pair sliced and diced their way through the Eagles defense and it appeared that the Braves (2-6) would be able to control the line of scrimmage the entire game.
"We had not driven down the field like that all season," Octorara head coach Jed King said. "It was a real nice long drive and it may have tired us out a little bit. We started to go down on contact a little after that. But our kids never quit and we had to open things up and throw the ball deep and we got hurt by the picks."
Shanahan's defense stiffened after the opening drive, limiting Octorara to just 77 yards rushing on the day, after giving up just six points last week in a 10-6 win over West Chester East. Shanahan was led by Pat McCloskey, Scott Nulty and Zach Barbera, who all picked off passes by Braves quarterback Dan Solomon.
"Our defense came alive after the first drive," Shanahan coach Paul Meyers said. "And all the credit goes to coach Jeff Sampson who just does a great job with those guys. The last two weeks they have been fantastic for us."
Barbera's interception at the Shanahan 36 yard line led to a 10-play, 64-yard drive that ended when Lawton grabbed Egolf's 18-yard TD pass as teh Eagles built a 15-7 halftime advantage.
Shanahan then went on its most impressive drive of the season when Ryan Ficca picked off Solomon at the Eagles three-yard line. What followed was a 14-play, 97-yard scoring drive with Lawton doing most of the damage, including an 18-yard scamper for the score.
"We talked about finishing strong and it is important to us," Lawton said. "We want to get things going and really take off next season."
Octorara continued to try to throw the ball downfield, despite constant pressure from the Eagles' front line. Solomon did manage to pass for 140 yards, but the five interceptions hurt the Braves' cause.
"The kids deserve this win," Meyers said. "We had our best week of practice this week and that says something about the dedication and heart of these kids. They want to win out to finish the season."
Shanahan grinds out hard fought win over WC East
Paul Meyers and Doug Costin have been good friends for a very long time.
So when Meyers, who's the head coach of the football team at Bishop Shanahan, squares off against Costin, who's the head coach at West Chester East, he likes to mix things up a bit.
This season, Meyers scrapped the Eagles' trademark spread offense in lieu of the archaic wishbone attack and it paid dividends as Bishop Shanahan defeated the Vikings, 10-6, in a Ches-Mont National Division tilt at Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium on Friday night.
"We knew they were bigger and faster than us, so we thought our best chance was to go right at them," Meyers said. "We saw them on film and they're struggling a little bit with teams going right at them, so that's what we decided to do."
It was West Chester East (0-5, 0-8), however, that came out of the gate running right at Bishop Shanahan. The only problem with that was the Eagles defense played stout all night long.
On their initial drive, the Vikings moved the ball as far as Bishop Shanahan's 41-yard line but penalties and incompletions stalled the drive. Unfortunately for West Chester East's offense, that was as far into Eagles' territory as it would penetrate all evening.
In all, Bishop Shanahan's defense surrendered 136 yards rushing and only six yards passing in the entire contest.
"Our team thought they were just going to (show up) and Shanahan was going to roll over and they were going to win the game," Costin said. "It doesn't happen like that. Every week you have to come out and play hard and I thought today we had a total letdown."
Bishop Shanahan's second drive of the game didn't start the way it would have hoped, but it sure ended nicely for the Eagles (1-3, 2-5). Shanahan quarterback Ryan Egolf dropped back to pass on the first play of the drive but was hit and fumbled. The Eagles recovered the ball but suffered a 12-yard loss.
On third-and-15, though, Egolf found receiver Mike Ibarguen for a 24-yard pass completion and a first down. Two plays later, running back Keegan Lawton scampered 35 yards out of the wishbone formation for what would be the game's only touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
"We've been practicing (the wishbone) all week and we've been practicing so hard," Egolf said. "We needed this one so bad. We knew we could run the ball on them because we felt our line was stronger than theirs. As it turns out, it was."
The two teams exchanged several punts throughout most of the second quarter and one of them proved costly for the Eagles. With just over three minutes remaining in the second half, Bishop Shanahan punter Scott Nutly hit one off the side of his foot and it traveled a scant 17 yards.
Thinking it would be downed, West Chester East's punt team got away from the ball not wanting to risk a fumble. But nobody on the Eagles' punt team went to down it either.
Vikings return man Eric Ray alertly scooped up the loose ball and darted down the sideline for a 40-yard punt return to pull West Chester East within 7-6. However, the extra point was blocked, leaving the Vikings down by a point going into halftime.
In the second half it was much of the same for West Chester East's offense, which never moved the ball into Bishop Shanahan's territory. That meant the Vikings' defense, which held the Eagles to just 105 yards rushing, was on the field longer than expected.
"Our defense played a heck of a game," Costin said. "But when you have your defense out there trying to keep you in the game, it's very hard for them to stay out there the entire time."
The Vikings' defense was gassed and that was a key factor in Shanahan's 14-play fourth-quarter drive that culminated in a 24-yard field goal that gave the Eagles their final margin of victory.
If nothing else, Costin and Meyers will have something new to chew over the next time they get together.
"The whole thing (Costin) said all week was, 'I'm ready for any kind of formation you're going to throw at me,'" Meyers said. "That's what we do with each other."
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Shanahan Shuts Out Chichester
For First Win of 2009
UPPER CHICHESTER — Time was running down, but the crowd volume was at its peak. The Chichester High sideline was buzzing with excitement.
Eagles quarterback John Gillespie bounced on the balls of his feet, having just run for 30 yards, and that coming after two pass completions to Robert Scheivert that totaled 38 more.
Gillespie was itching to score, but the clock said the time was no more. Apparently, the timer guys hadn't seen Eagles coach Dan Singley call for a timeout. Fortunately, one official had.
So after a few minutes of confusion, the clock was cranked back to four seconds, and then a Bishop Shanahan penalty moved Chi to the 19-yard-line for one final play … a pass that just eluded would-be receiver Eric Piehl.
There would be no game-ending magic for the Eagles, just one lasting look at the final score: Shanahan 37, Chichester 0.
How many teams would stay this excited through such an apparently one-sided loss?
"We're not giving up," Piehl said, "but we're not executing, either.
Turnovers hurt a lot."
Two muffed punts that were converted into nine quick points, an interception returned for a touchdown and a fumble returned deep to set up another Shanahan score certainly helped send the Eagles down, but Shanahan's Eagles did a lot to do the rest.
Standing out for the visiting Eagles was diminutive junior running back Keegan Lawton, who carried 14 times for 128 yards and three touchdowns.
Shanahan, fresh off a loss to West Chester Rustin, also clicked through the air, with sophomore quarterback Ryan Egolf finding junior Chris Cordivari for a 24-yard score.
"Last week, with the Rustin game, that was tough to take," Cordivari said. "But we never let down and came back out Monday and worked really hard all week."
Noting his touchdown came just after a holding penalty had pulled his team out of the red zone, Cordivari said, "that had put us in a hole, so we tried that pass and it worked. But our O-line … they really came through big-time."
That touchdown pass with 23 seconds to play in the first quarter opened the scoring, and essentially ended a quarter that saw Chi move the ball effectively.
Behind a 34-yard scramble by quarterback John Gillespie, Chi had it at the Shanny 18, but the first of four turnovers then came courtesy of an interception by freshman Liam Harsh.
That set up the Shanahan scoring drive that culminated in the touchdown pass. It also established a trend of Chi errors.
A would-be punt that went for a fumble by Chi set up the second Shanahan score, which Lawton finished with a two-yard run 10:17 before the half. Shortly thereafter, Chi had a big defensive stop. But on first down, Gillespie was picked off by sophomore Scott Nulty, who returned it 25 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.
Then the hometown Eagles had another muffed punt, this one bounding into the end zone for a safety and a 23-0 halftime deficit. Chi tried an on-side kick to start the second half, but it didn't work. And it took just five plays for another Shanny score, this one a five-yard Lawton run.
His third TD, from 20 yards out and with line help from the likes of Matt Seifert and Matt Leibel, was soon to follow. It came after another local Eagles turnover.
"You can't have them," Singley said of the turnovers. "You saw that in the (NFL) Eagles game last weekend. But we'll get better."
So Chi falls to 0-3, with a pair of one-win seasons just behind it. But while lesser teams would let the losses zap any semblance of spirit, these Eagles stayed buoyed, preaching improvement through their youth movement.
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2009 All Ches-Mont Award Winners
Offense
First Team
Chris Cordivari –Wide Receiver
Honorable Mention
Adam Kaminski- Kicker
Mike Ibarguen – All- Academic
Keegan Lawton- Running Back
Chris Cusick-DE
John Shine-LB
Scott Nulty-Punter