[tps_title]Bishop Shanahan Eagles [/tps_title]
PETE BANNAN DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA — Bishop Shanahan quarterback Dan DiBeneditto throws during pre-season practice.
Eagles confident new QB DiBeneditto can pick up slack
DOWNINGTOWN >> Last year was a season of firsts or Bishop Shanahan. The Eagles compiled an 8-4 record and won the first home playoff game in school history, defeating West Chester Rustin in the first round of the District 1 Class 5A playoffs.
The big man for the Eagles was senior quarterback Nick Skulski, a two-way threat who totaled over 1,800 yards combined throwing and rushing. So, one would assume losing a player like Skulski to graduation would spell doom for the Eagles going into 2017. 
Not so. Senior Dan DiBeneditto is ready and raring to go to spearhead the Eagles’ exciting spread offense. The Eagles’ new signal caller was mainly a running back last season but he also was Skulski’s backup.
“I am definitely ready for the leadership role for this team,” DiBeneditto said. “I am not afraid to take responsibility for this team and Nick taught me so much. We were real good friends and he helped me pick up the offense. I have been in this offense for four years so I feel very comfortable running it.
“And we have a lot of good skill players back and this year we want to get over the hump of winning just one playoff game,” DiBeneditto said. “Our goals are to compete in the Ches-Mont National and win the District 1 5A title. With the people we have here I really feel we can do it and I feel I can compete with the other top quarterbacks in the league. We really want to finish the year with a district title and get over the hump in the playoffs.”
Bishop Shanahan head coach Paul Meyers has long been known for his innovative offensive scheme and he feels his new starting quarterback is more than ready to accept the challenge of leading the Eagles.
“Danny is a very smart young man,” Meyers said. “He is a three-sport athlete and one of the top students in the school. He is captain of the baseball team and he is coming into the role of being a leader. He is very versatile. He has a real good arm, can run the football and he can throw on the run.
“He really impressed us this summer at the Widener University 7-on-7. Nick taught him a lot last season and he is helped because I believe the strength of our team will be with our skill position players.
“Our line is a bit of a question mark,” Meyers said. “We like the kids we have but we have some inexperience there. We have two guys coming back so we still feel our offensive line will be okay.”
DiBeneditto knows that Meyers likes to push the envelope offensively and will come up with many different variations and schemes and he feels he is also ready to lead such a diverse offense.
“I love the offense that we run because it allows the quarterback to do so many things. We can either pass, run, we do a little option and a lot of other things. I am really looking forward to the challenge of getting the season going.”
Besides the meat grinder that is the Ches-Mont National Division schedule, the Eagles will play four nonleague opponents as Bishop Shanahan opens the season with West Philadelphia and then travels to play a tough Glen Mills squad before another road contest at Pottstown. The Eagles’ Ches-Mont League crossover game is Oxford.
“We want to come out strong like we did last year and win our first three games to set us up for the Ches-Mont League schedule.” Meyers said.
By Peter DiGiovanni; pdigiovanni07@gmail.com
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