DOWNINGTOWN — Ground and pound is one of football’s well-worn and time-honored cliches, but on Friday night, Bishop Shanahan brought it to life and in doing so, might have brought a PIAA District 1 Class 4A playoff game to its fans.
The Eagles ran the ball for most of the second half as they kept Chichester off the field to hold on for a nonleague 13-7 victory at Jack Mancini Field.
The win ended Shanahan’s regular season at 5-5 and it will wait for other results to determine where it will be when the 4A playoffs get under way next week.
“All of them are going to be excited,” Shanahan’s Trevor Barbadora said, pointing to the students celebrating the victory with the team.
The game started off with a thunderbolt. On the second play from scrimmage, Chi’s Bajzhiir Reese ran left and looked like he was going to be swallowed up by the Shanahan defense, but popped out and sprinted the rest of way for a 72-yard scoring run and an early 7-0 lead.
“That was all indivdual,” Chichester coach Chris Craig said. “The quarterback … turned the wrong way and Baji had to make a play. He can turn a no play into a home run. I don’t know how he got out of those tackles. Maybe they didn’t see his little butt.”
Shanahan answered right back with a, 11-play, 75-yard drive, helped by a personal foul call. Barbadora bolted in from the 2 for the tying score.
“I wasn’t even touched,” said Barbadora. “I have to give the credit to the offensive line.”
Chi used a long kickoff return by Will Bronson to set up at the Shanahan 25. But the drive stalled at the 15 yard line and a field goal try was missed and the game was still tied.
Late in the second quarter, Shanahan stymied a Chi drive as Aidan Civitella intercepted a Shahadi pass at the Shanahan 35. The Eagles then marched to the Chi 3 before Julian Haylock bulled in for the tie-breaking touchdown. Shanahan missed the extra point for a 13-7 lead at halftime.
“It was great,” Civatella said of his interception. “Our pass rush got home and forced their quarterback to throw an errant pass and I was there to get it, so it was all credit to them.”
Shanahan had chances to extend its lead in the second half, but missed a field goal and turned the ball over on downs deep in Chichester territory.
“We have to finish,” Shanahan coach Paul Meyers said. “We are going into playoffs now and we have to finish. We got inside the 20-yard line three times in the second half without any points. We have to finish.”
“It’s the no-quit Delco thing,” Craig said. “We had our backs against the wall, keep everything in front of you.”
The depleted Chichester squad, which was missing five starters from its 42-8 loss the previous week to Chester, was unable to sustain a drive and gave the ball to Shanahan with nearly 10 minutes left in the fourth.
The Eagles then controlled the ball and ran out the clock. Nate Bracken ran the ball four straight times to power the drive along with Pat Gallagher. Shanahan converted two third downs and one fourth down to put the game away.
