Red Devils’ second-half running attack bedevils Bishop Shanahan

Downingtown >> After a spotty first-half performance, Avon Grove began to control the football after halftime, using a strong running attack to nail down a 42-21 win against host Bishop Shanahan Friday evening.

It was the first win of the season for the visiting Red Devils, who came into the game with an 0-3 record against some tough non-league competition. For Shanahan (3-1), it was the Eagles’ first defeat of the 2019 campaign.

In the first half, Avon Grove picked up only four first downs, but managed a 14-14 tie thanks to a couple of big plays – a 62-yard touchdown pass from JT McDonald to junior running back Colby Riddell, and a 57-yard return of a blocked field goal attempt for a TD by junior back Sean Glatts.

“I think we came out after halftime with a lot more energy,” said a charged-up Riddell, who ran for two touchdowns in the second half, one of them a 56-yard scamper on fourth-and-one. “We came here to win tonight, we were really hungry for a win, and in the second half, we kept our focus and kept our energy. Our offensive line opened up holes for Sean and me; our defense stopped [Shanahan], it was a great effort by the entire team.”

“Our physicality got much better in the second half,” said Avon Grove head coach Harry O’Neill. That’s what happened to us last week, too. Our offensive line really stepped up in the second half tonight.”

Key offensive linemen for the Red Devils included senior Rhys Whitehouse, senior tight end Max Paschall, senior Dylan Jorgensen, junior Bryan Cassidy, senior Jared Sycalik and senior Ricky Gomez.

Glatts, who broke free for a 52-yard TD run in the third quarter, said, “We got good blocking up front tonight. Our running attack wouldn’t have happened tonight if it wasn’t for those guys.”

O’Neill said, “Our running backs, Colby and Sean, played very, very well tonight. We’ve been struggling [early] this season in running the ball, but last week we ran it pretty well and then in the second half tonight we ran it pretty well.”

The Red Devils’ running attack worked so well in the second half that the visitors threw only two passes after halftime.

“Shanahan ran the ball very well on us and was able to control the clock on us in the first half,” said O’Neill. “We made some adjustments at halftime and then we made a few adjustments in the middle of the third quarter in what we were doing up front.”

In the first half, Shanahan scored on the third play of the game to go ahead 6-0 when sophomore quarterback Cooper Jordan hit a wide-open Garrett Glendenning for a 63-yard touchdown.

Five plays later, Avon Grove came right back with the 62-yard TD pass to Riddell, who leaped high above the Shanahan defenders to come down with the ball. He then outran the Eagle defenders for the last 20 yards into the end zone. Bobby Smith’s kick made it 7-6 Avon Grove.

With 5:53 left before halftime, Shanahan attempted a 45-yard field goal, but the Red Devils blocked the kick, and Glatts ran it all the way back for a 57-yard touchdown to give the visitors a 14-6 lead.

“Jared Sycalik put his hand up and blocked the ball,” said Glatts. “I saw the ball on the ground, picked it up, made one little move to the outside and I was gone.”

Just before halftime, Shanahan put together a 53-yard touchdown drive highlighted by solid running gains from Jordan and sizable (6-2, 210) sophomore running back Brandon Choi. On fourth-and-goal from the eight yard line, Jordan faded back as if to pass, then saw an opening up the middle and ran into the end zone to make it 14-12. Jordan then hit Glendenning for a two-point conversion to send the two teams into the locker room at halftime tied at 14-14.

Midway through the third quarter, Bishop Shanahan put together a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that featured solid running gains by Jordan, Choi and Glendenning. Jordan capped the drive, scoring on a 12-yard TD run to put the Eagles ahead for the final time, 21-14.

Three plays later, Glatts broke free for a 52-yard touchdown run down the right sideline, avoiding tackles along the way to tie the score at 21-21 with 5:03 left in the third quarter.

Avon Grove held Shanahan to one first down on the Eagles’ subsequent offensive series, and a punt to the Red Devils’ 35 yard line was returned by Glatts for 44 yards, putting the ball deep into enemy territory.

Glatts said, “The punt came to me, I faked a pitchout to Colby Riddell, then I saw a little funnel [opening] to the left side.”

On a running play on first-and-10 from the Shanahan 11-yard line, Riddell made several nice moves to evade tacklers on his way into the end zone, putting Avon Grove ahead for good, 28-21.

The Red Devils held Shanahan to one first down on the Eagles’ subsequent offensive series, forcing the hosts to punt. Four plays later, Avon Grove faced a tough fourth-and-one situation on its own 44 yard line, and went for the first down. The move paid off when Riddell scooted up the middle and went all the way for a 56-yard touchdown to give the visitors a 35-21 lead with 9:24 left.

Bishop Shanahan’s next offensive series bogged down at midfield, and Avon Grove took over on downs. The Red Devils gave the ball to Glatts on six consecutive running plays, then senior back Wyatt Kirby burst through the middle for a 9-yard touchdown run. After Bobby Smith’s extra point was good, the visitors had a 42-21 lead with 4:36 left. That lead held up the rest of the way.

O’Neill said, “Our defense got better in the second half tonight, and our kicker [junior Bobby Smith] did well, too. We’re getting better each week. As long as we continue to get better every week I’ll be happy.”

A few days before the Avon Grove-Bishop Shanahan matchup, Eagles head coach Paul Meyers had said the Red Devils had the potential to bedevil his squad.

“Avon Grove has played a very tough schedule,” Meyers said earlier in the week. “We are going to have to be tough up front because they are going to try to push us around. They are big up front and they have two backs who can get into open space also. This is definitely the best team we have played so far.”

Following the defeat, Meyers said, “We just ran out of steam in the second half. Avon Grove is the best 0-3 team [now 1-3 team] out there, and we knew that going in. Give them credit – they just ran the ball and wore us down in the second half.

“We’ll come back [from this loss]. We’ve got a lot of inexperienced guys out there right now, but we’re going to rebound from this game, after the game I told our players that. I told the players I was proud of their effort tonight, nobody quit.

“We’ve got to get healthy, we were missing six starters tonight [due to injuries], but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. We’ll be ready to go next week, we’ll make some adjustments and we’ll watch some film. We’ll be fine.”