Downingtown West spoils Shanahan’s upset bid

DOWNINGTOWN >> Thomas Mattioni was the first Downingtown West player to admit that Bishop Shanahan gave the Whippets its best shot at knocking them from the unbeaten ranks.

Despite trailing by nine points midway through the third quarter, Mattioni and West didn’t panic when Shanahan had all the momentum on its side. Instead, the Whippets persevered.

“They were the hungrier team the first half, no doubt about it,” Mattioni said. “But we’re the bigger, better and badder team. We came and gave that to them in the second half.”

Mattioni’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Braden Harper with 1;28 left in the third quarter gave Downingtown West the lead for good as the Whippets forced two Shanahan fourth-quarter turnovers in a 27-16 Ches-Mont National Division victory over the Eagles at Kottmeyer Stadium on Fridaynight.

The win kept Downingtown West (2-0 National, 6-0 overall) undefeated through the first six weeks of the season. The Eagles (1-1, 3-3) lost their first league game and fell back to .500 on the year.

West rushed for 264 yards on the night despite missing Mike Riddick for the game with an injury; 140 of which came in the second half.

With the Whippets trailing 16-7 after a three-yard touchdown run by Bishop Shanahan’s Jake Guinan midway through the third quarter, Mattioni and West’s struggling offense decided to put points on the board.

West had three turnovers to that point in the game, all of which led to Shanahan’s 16 points. Mattioni (fumble, interception) and Jake Barr (fumble) were responsible for the turnovers, but the Whippets stuck to the game plan of running the ball.

Harper was there to pick up the slack with 14 carries for 78 yards; 51 coming in the second half.

“We came out strong from that point on, but give credit to the offensive line, they were phenomenal,” Harper said. “Those guys worked their butts off tonight.”

West responded from their largest deficit of the season with an eight-play, 63-yard drive capped with a Mattioni seven-yard touchdown run to put the Whippets within three, 16-13, with 4:35 left in the third quarter.

After a sack by Branden Myers on Shanahan quarterback Nick Skulski forced the Eagles into a three-and-out, it only took the Whippets four plays to take the lead for good. Once West got to the Shanahan 28, Mattioni rolled to his right and found Harper wide open at the 15-yard line. Harper cut to his left and broke two Shanahan defenders on the run for the 28-yard touchdown reception to give West a 20-16 lead.

“That naked bootleg always works,” Mattioni said. “We have plenty of options to use, just this time it was Harp (Harper). He was wide open.”

Shanahan wasn’t going to go down without a fight, not after receiving a perfect 41-yard pass from Skulski to Brendan Dearing and a one-handed interception from Dan Neuhaus in the first half. The Eagles were hoping to make one more play to retake the lead.

On 2nd-and-8 from thee West 16 with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter, Skulski rolled to his right and had an open receiver in the right corner of the end zone. Wayne Anderson saw the pass and tipped the ball at the last second which landed in the hands of Nolan Richard for the interception.

The Whippets sealed the win five minutes later with a 14-play, 80-yard drive capped by a Kevin Kyriakos six-yard touchdown run to put them up 27-16 with 2:21 to play. West converted three third downs on the drive, including a three-yard run by Mattioni on 3rd-and-2 at the West 42 that was inches away from being tackled from behind the scrimmage by two Shanahan defenders.

“They came at us a little bit and we started to get a little tired late,” said Shanahan head coach Paul Meyers. “I can’t say enough about this team with the heart and effort they showed against the No. 1 ranked team in District 1. We took them down to the wire and gave them all they could handle.”

Skulski went 8 for 18 for 132 yards and two interceptions. Dearing led Shanahan with 109 total yards (51 rushing, 58 receiving) and a touchdown.

Mattioni finished 6 of 10 for 104 yards and two touchdowns along with 16 carries for a team leading 82 yards and a touchdown. Barr finished with 103 total yards and a touchdown.

Shanahan was the first test West received all season after the Whippets defeated their first five opponents by a score of 195-67. After being punched in the mouth, West punched back.

“We overcame a lot of adversity tonight,” Harper said. “We were hit but didn’t lay down. We kept fighting, came back, and got the win. A lot of hard work paid off and now we’re 6-0 because of it.”

DW: Barr 20 pass from Mattioni (Biscardi kick)

BS: Dearing 44 run (George kick)

BS: George 26 FG

BS: Guinan 3 run (kick failed)

DW: Mattioni 7 run (kick blocked)

DW: Harper 28 pass from Mattioni (Biscardi kick)

DW: Kyriakos 6 run (Biscardi kick)

BSDW

First downs 16 21

Rushes-yards 37-164 42-264

Passing 8-18-2 6-10-1

Passing yards 132 104

Total yards 296 368

Punts 3-31.0 1-28

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2

Penalties-yards 1-10 1-28.0

Rushing — Bishop Shanahan: Dearing 2-51, TD; Guinan 13-40, TD; Burke 5-24; Gueriera 4-17; Skulski 7-9; Costin 3-9; Riccardo 1-8; Smyth 2-6. Downingtown West: Mattioni 16-82, TD; Harper 14-78; Barr 8-58; Kyriakos 4-46, TD.

Passing — Bishop Shanahan: Skulski 8-18-2, 132 yds. Downingtown West: Mattioni 6-10-1, 104 yds., 2 TD.

Receiving — Bishop Shanahan: Neuhaus 4-41; Dearing 2-58; Gueriera 1-23; Guinan 1-10. Downingtown West: Barr 3-45, TD; Harper 1-28, TD; Kyriakos 1-6, Alleyne 1-15.

Interceptions — Bishop Shanahan: Neuhaus. Downingtown West: Richard, Barr.

Sacks — Bishop Shanahan: Costin. Downingtown West: Myers.