Shanahan thwarted by McDevitt in state semifinals
By Bryan Davis
bdavis@medianewsgroup.com
@btdavis25 on Twitter
COATESVILLE >> With two high-powered offense looking to make noise, it was the defenses who stood front and center. In the end, it was Bishop McDevitt who made the important stops late en route to a 28-21 win over Bishop Shanahan in the PIAA 4A semifinal at Coatesville on Friday.
With the win, the Crusaders (12-1) reached the state final for the first time since 2013. They have previously lost the last three times they have reached this stage. McDevitt has not lost since an opening day defeat to La Salle.
“It feels good,” said McDevitt coach Jeff Weachter. “It’s been since 2013. We thought we would have been back since then, but it feels good.”
The Shanahan defense had McDevitt deep in its own end as they trailed, 28-21. McDevitt gained a first down, but stalled and punted the ball to Shanahan with less than three minutes left.
The Eagles took over on their 31 with no timeouts. Cooper Jordan hit Evan Kapczynski for 11 yards and Nicholas Romano for 12 to start the drive. Later, Jordan found Simmi Whitehill for 13 yards to the McDevitt 27, But, three straight incompletions brought on a fourth down. Jordan was flushed out of the pocket and tried to run for the first down, but he was grabbed around the ankles and the Crusaders took over.
Two kneeldowns later, the Crusaders celebrated as they were off to Hershey, while the Eagles were left devastated.
Shanahan took its first possession and marched 67 yards to earn the game’s first score. Jordan found Brandon Choi open at the six, and he rambled for a 13-yard score with 5:48 left.
McDevitt answered quickly as freshman QB sensation Stone Saunders threw for 45 yards on the 65-yard drive. The last 16 came when he found Rico Scott in the right corner of the end zone to tie the game.
The Eagles regained the lead after going on another marathon drive. This one was 90 yards on 13 plays that took the last two minutes of the first quarter and almost half the second. Jordan capped off the march with a 7-yard run for a 14-7 advantage.
McDevitt came back, but they made it infinitely hard on themselves. Penalties pushed them back to the Shanahan 25, facing a 2nd-and-goal. Williams surprised Shanahan by taking a draw and ripping off a 25-yard run for the score.
However, the extra point was blocked and the Crusaders trailed 14-13 into halftime.
“All I can say is it don’t matter how many carries I got, we won.” said Williams who finished the game with 115 yards on 24 carries.
McDevitt took the lead for good after holding Shanahan to a three-and-out on the first possession of the half. Cyncir Bowers dove over from the three, and the two-point conversion made it 21-14.
The backbreaker came moments later. On a 2nd-and-15 from the 29, Jordan had his pass batted in the air by Nate Kinsey, who gathered it in and scooted into the end zone.
“He’s done a great job all year,” said Weachter. “This is only his second year playing football It was a great play by him.”
Before the feeling of dread could envelope the Shanahan fans, they struck back. Colin McGrory took a reverse on the kickoff and raced 92 yards to make it 28-21.
But, the Crusaders defense held firm as the seconds clicked off.
Despite, the loss the Eagles had a lot to be proud of. They finished the season 11-4, one that would be in the Shanahan history books. The defense held Saunders without a completion in the second half.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the defense,” said Choi. “We’re a brotherhood. Ten of the 11 of us are seniors. We jelled. We played fast and physical and we had each other’s backs.”
Bishop McDevitt 28, Bishop Shanahan 21
Bishop McDevitt 7 6 15 0 — 28
Bishop Shanahan 7 7 7 0 — 21
First Quarter
Shanahan — Choi 13 pass from C. Jordan (Domsohn kick)
McDevitt — Scott 16 pass from Saunders (Roman kick)
Second Quarter
Shanahan — C. Jordan 7 run (Domsohn kick)
McDevitt — Williams 25 run (kick blocked)
Third Quarter
McDevitt — Bowers 3 run (Easterly pass)
McDevitt — Kinsey 29 interception return (Roman kick)
Shanahan — McGrory 92 kickoff return (Domsohn kick)
team statistics
BM BS
First downs 15 16
Rushes-yards 39-161 31-94
Passing 5-11-1 13-23-1
Passing yards 91 127
Total yards 252 221
Punts 5-33.0 6-37.8
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 13-119 7-61
Individual statistics
Rushing — McDevitt: Williams 24-115 TD; Bowers 9-61 TD; Saunders 2-(-9); Easterly 1-(-3); Team 3-(-3). Shanahan: Choi 4-11; Whitehill 4-9; C. Jordan 16-46 TD; Romano 2-13; McGrory 5-16.
Passing — McDevitt: Saunders 5-11-1 91 yards TD. Shanahan: C. Jordan 13-23-1 127 yards TD.
Receiving — McDevitt: Easterly 3-37; Foster 1-38; Scott 1-16 TD. Shanahan: McGrory 5-42; Romano 3-21; Kapczynski 3-33; Choi 1-13 TD; Whitehill 1-13.
Interceptions — McDevitt: Kinsey. Shanahan: Romano.
Sacks — Shanahan: Blakely.
