Bishop Shanahan shuts out Sun Valley

DOWNINGTOWN- Friday night at Jack Mancini Stadium the Bishop Shanahan football team played a very impressive 48 minutes of football on both sides of the ball as the Eagles moved their record to 5-1 with a dominating 34-0, win over Sun Valley in nonleague action.

Bishop Shanahan rolled up 475 yards of total offense and 22 first downs while limiting the Vanguards to just 50 yards of total offense and three first downs. Bishop Shanahan quarterback Cooper Jordan was very impressive as he threw for 123 yards and four touchdowns and he even had time to score on a rushing touchdown as the Eagles jetted out to a 28-0 halftime edge and won comfortably.

“The coaches really put us in a good place tonight,” Jordan said. “They had a great game plan and we really felt we could do pretty much what we wanted to do on offense. We brought a ton of energy into the game and we carried it the whole game. We have been playing very well the past couple of weeks.

The Eagles scored early in the first period after forcing a Sun Valley (2-4) three and out and a punt that set up the Eagles at their own 29 yard line. Jordan completed three passes on the 71 yard drive and got good rushing production from senior Colin McGrory, who tallied 124 yards on 13 carries. Jordan went the final 13 yards to make it a 7-0 Eagles lead after one period.

With Sun Valley only able to muster 31 yards of total offense in the first half and punting the ball four times in the opening half, Bishop Shanahan went on a scoring spree. Jordan hit McGrory with touchdown passes of 12 and seven yards in the second period to make it a 21-0 Eagles lead.

Sun Valley again was stopped late in the second period as the Vanguards were having trouble keeping the Eagles away from quarterback Steve Eskridge. The Vanguards punted the ball away with a little over a minute left in the first half.

McGrory returned the Vanguards punt 33 yards to set up the Eagles in Sun Valley territory and five plays later Simmi Whitehill caught a 12 yard pass from Jordan in the right flat and bulled his way into the end zone, carrying tacklers on the way for a 12 yard scoring pass and it was a 28-0 Bishop Shanahan lead the half.

“Yesterday in practice I challenged the D-line and O-line to winches game and they did a great job of things on both sides of the ball,” Bishop Shanahan head coach Paul Meyers said. “and Coop is just unbelievable out there. He is a playmaker and he made plays again tonight. And our defense dominated tonight. Liam Blakely was great for us tonight. He has a real high motor and he plays both sides of the ball and he is a leader for us.”

The second half started with the Eagles getting the second half kickoff and this time Sun Valley forced a punt. But, again, the Vanguards could not move the football and the Eagles fielded the fifth Sun Valley punt of the game. Shanahan marched down the field and McGrory took his third touchdown pass of the night, this one from 15 yards and the Eagles were cruising 34-0, after a missed extra point.

The rest of the game saw the Eagles drive down the field twice but they were kept out of the end zone by the Vanguards defense. On offense, Sun Valley tallied three first downs in the second half but could not move the ball into the Eagles side of the field. Liam Blakely had seven tackles on the night and Blakely, Brandon Choi and Dylan Jones led the suffocating Eagles defense.

“We were really fired up tonight,” Blakely said. “We had great game plan and we expected it top be a battle and it was. And having Coop make all those plays gives you a lot of confidence on defense. You know he is going tout up points so we just play free and easy.”

The loss dropped Sun Valley to 2-3 on the season but first year head coach Ernie Ellis saw some things he could build on for the Vanguards.

“Not to use excuses but we were down three offensive linemen due to injuries,” Ellis said. “And we are playing teams that have it all together. We have to get better with our off season weight lifting program. I did not get the position to late in the year and i was not able to implement what i want us to do. But, at halftime i challenged the kids to withe second half and they showed a ton of character in the second half and played very hard.”