Bishop Shanahan football squad enjoyed memorable season

CALN >> Dreams die hard on the football field sometimes. Friday night in the the PIAA 4A Eastern Final, Bishop Shanahan came up three yards short on a 4th-and-10 play with less than one minute left, and the Eagles season ended with a crushing 28-21 loss to Bishop McDevitt of Harrisburg.
But the 2021 Bishop Shanahan football team, which featured 28 seniors, made history this fall. Besides winning the PIAA District 1 4A championship, this senior-dominated squad earned its first-ever PIAA state playoff win in school history and finished with the most wins of any Bishop Shanahan team. The Eagles defeated District 12 champion Bonner-Prendergast and District 2 champ Valley View in the PIAA state playoffs.
“Two years ago we went up to Jersey Shore and lost a state playoff game,” said Shanahan’s all state linebacker Brandon Choi. “We decided right then that our goal was to win a state championship and we gave it everything we had to try to get it done. We are a brotherhood and we do things together and these guys will be my friends for life. We had a great run in our our years at Bishop Shanahan and it is tough to see it end. We got the first state playoff win in school history this year, and we wanted to do it for ourselves, the coaches, the fans and everyone at the school. These guys are my brothers for life now.”
Shanahan senior quarterback Cooper Jordan threw for more than 2,000 yards and ran for more than 1,000 yards this season and was instrumental in the Eagles sustained success, as he was a three year starter like so many of his senior mates.
“This is a family feel with all these guys,” Jordan said. “We wanted to get to the state championship game and win it but we came up a little short. But, these guys are my brothers for life and this is a strong brotherhood. We decided when we were sophomores that we wanted to build this program brick by brick, and I feel we did that and we have a lot to be proud of.”
The Bishop Shanahan run defense was the best in the area this season with Kenny Daniels, Charles Adams, Liam Blakely and Dylan Jones up front. In the loss to McDevitt, Jones, one of those 28 seniors, was huge as he harassed Crusaders quarterback Stone Saunders all night and was big in run defense.
“This really hurts right now,” Jones said. “But, this is the best bunch of guys you could ever hope to be around. We really all played for each other and we were a family on and off the field. This is just a great group of friends and we will stay close forever.”
Bishop Shanahan head coach Paul Meyers, who saw this senior class come through for four years, felt that this could be a group to remember when they were freshmen.
“This was just a special group,” Meyers said. “They were undefeated as freshman, going 8-0. Then as sophomores they won the first District 1 title in school history and went to the first state playoff game. As juniors last year they went undefeated at 4-0 and then COVID shut us down and I felt we could have done damage last year. This year as seniors they won another district title and won two state playoff games.
“The seniors were like coaches off the field for us. They did all the things we coaches don’t have time to clean up sometimes. They took care of all the little potential problems. They really were an extension of the coaching staff and a real special group that made history for the school.”