Big second half powers Bishop Shanahan past Archbishop Ryan

DOWNINGTOWN >> Friday night at Jack Mancini Field it took the Bishop Shanahan offense a half to catch up to its ravenous defense. The host Eagles spotted Archbishop Ryan a slim halftime lead and the Eagles offense only had 39 yards of total offense in the first half.

But, senior quarterback Copper Jordan directed two long second half drives and rushed for two scores while throwing for another one, as Bishop Shanahan took its season opener 21-3, over a tough Archbishop Ryan squad.

“Our defense was led by the front five and our linebackers,’ Bishop Shanahan head coach Paul Meyers said. “Our D coordinator, Joe McGee, does a great job for us. And at halftime I challenged Cooper and told him he is one of the best players on the field and that he was playing slow. And you saw what he did in the second half.

“In the fourth period he came over to me and said” ‘I got it Coach.’ That shows what a great kid he is.”

The visiting Raiders (0-1) took a 3-0 lead on a 37-yard field goal by Kyle Norton midway through the second period, but the Bishop Shanahan defense shut down most of the Raiders’ offense for the entire 48 minutes of play. Led by defensive tackle Dylan Jones, who had nine tackles, and senior linebacker Brandon Choi, who also had nine tackles, the visitors could not muster any sustained drives.

“We did not expect Archbishop Ryan to come out so tough,” Jones said. “We were a little surprised by that but we just kept fighting and fighting. We were a little frustrated by not scoring in the first half but we made some adjustments at halftime and then to have a player like Cooper who can break a play from anywhere is a good thing to have.”

The Eagles (1-0) took the second half kickoff and marched down the field, taking five minutes and 31 seconds off the clock with Jordan, Choi and Colin McGrory running the football down the field. Jordan danced his way into the end zone for a 10-yard run and the Eagles were up 6-3 after a missed extra point.

After forcing another Raiders’ three and out, the Eagles marched down the field again, taking four more minutes off the clock with Jordan scoring on a dazzling 28-yard jaunt down the left side of the Ryan defense and after the two-point conversion, the Eagle held a 14-6 lead heading into the fourth period.

“We changed some things at halftime,” Choi said. “And we wanted to take some time off the clock with sustained rives and we were able to do that. In the second half.”

Bishop Shanahan took a Raiders punt with 11:47 to play in the fourth period and marched down the field again before the Ryan defense stiffened and forced a punt. Archbishop Ryan took the ball and could go nowhere as Jones, Choi and company shut things down on the ground and in the air. Archbishop Ryan quarterback Rob McConnell competed only five of 15 passes for 81 yards and he was under pressure the entire night.

Bishop Shanahan took the ball over on downs late in the game and Jordan went on a marvelous 61-yard run down to the Archbishop Ryan one yard line. After a high snap went over Jordan’s head to put the ball back at the 23 yard line, Jordan hit McGrory in the end zone on the next play for a 21-3 final and the Eagles had a very successful opener.

“We changed some things at halftime like we knew they were an I formation team so we stacked the box in the second half,” Choi said. “And we came alive on offense like we had to do to get the win. We just kept battling and battling and playing tough football.”

Bishop Shanahan 21, Archbishop Ryan 3

Archbishop Ryan  0 3 0 0-3
Bishop Shanahan  0 0 14 7-21

                 Scoring
AR-Norton 37FG
                Third Period
BS-Jordan 10 run (kick failed)
BS-Jordan 28 run (Whitehill pass from Jordan)
                Fourth Period
BS-McGrory 23 pass from Jordan (Domsohn kick)

                      Team Totals
                      AR                BS
First downs     9                  19
Yards rushing 81                179
Yards passing 80                 89
Total yards      161              268
Passing        5-15-0          7-14-0
Fumbles-lost   1-1               2-2
Punts-avg       3-32.5         2-34.0
Penalties-yds   6-45             3-20

                       Individual Statistics
Rushing: AR: McConnell 7-19; Clancy 16-47; Gozzi 1-10; Stalling 1-5. SHAN: Jordan 13-94, 2TD’s; Romano 1-2; Whitehill 3-2; choi 15-44; McGrory 8-39.

Passing: AR: McConnell 5-15-80. SHAN: Jordan 7-14-89, TD.

Receiving: AR: S.McConnell 1-33; Mastrangelo 1-7; Clancy 1 (-3); Paczewski 1-44. SHAN: Choi 1-7; Romano 1-8; W.Jordan 1-5; Whitehill 2-18; McGrory 1-23; TD.

SacksAR: None. SHAN: Jones.

Interceptions: AR: None. SHAN: None.