Downingtown East rolls over Bishop Shanahan, but mistakes rile up Matta

DOWNINGTOWN >> You know you have a talented football team when you are not happy after winning by 37 points.

That was the case for Downingtown East and head coach Mike Matta Friday night after the Cougars defeated Bishop Shanahan, 41-4, in a Ches-Mont National Division game.

The Downingtown East (2-0, 5-0) defense held the Eagles (0-2, 2-3) to just 95 yards of total offense while piling up 361 of its own. But what ate at Matta were the eight penalties his Cougars were called for, including two unsportsmanlike conduct flags.

“That was the worst coaching job I have done here in 16 years,” Matta said. “And those penalties and lack of discipline is on me and we will get right to work and correct them. I was not happy at all and I will take it all on me.”

Of course, Downingtown East did plenty of good things, like score three first quarter touchdowns as Cougar quarterback Luke Davis connected on his first seven passes, three for touchdowns, and two on fourth and long plays.

Davis hit Connor Noble for a 4-yard touchdown on fourth down to open the scoring, and then, on a fourth and 23 play, Davis threaded the needle to Albert Choi for a 25-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead. After a poor Bishop Shanahan punt, Davis went 29 yards to Shane O’Shea to make it a commanding 21-0 lead after one quarter.

“They are a really good football team and those fourth down conversions killed us,” Bishop Shanahan head coach Paul Meyers said. “You cannot give a good team like them fourth down conversions. If we stopped them there we may have hung in there a little longer.”

Downingtown East’s bread and butter — its powerful running game — was on display as Garvey Jonassaint rushed for 110 yards on 11 carries, while Zach Hamilton gained 100 yards on 15 carries. Jonassaint made it a 28-0 game early in the second quarter as he shed at least four tacklers on his way to a thrilling 35-yard touchdown run. The Eagles scored two points late in the first half when the Cougars botched a punt snap and the Downingtown East punter ran out of the back of the end zone.

But, the Cougars scored on their first two possessions of the second half as they ran the ball at will on the Eagles. Jonassaint went in from three yards out and Hamilton capped a nine-play drive with a 15-yard touchdown jaunt up the middle and the Cougars’ undefeated season went on to next week.

Bishop Shanahan tried three different quarterbacks, but the Eagles were only able to complete six of 19 passes with two Cougar interceptions as Shanahan dropped its third game in a row.

“Scoring on those fourth down plays really gave us some momentum,” Noble said. “And we were mad at ourselves for the penalties, but it seems like all the games with Bishop Shanahan get a little chippy and we know when we play Downingtown West and Coatesville we are not going to be able to do that kind of stuff. We know we have to clean things up.”