Glen Mills can’t push Bishop Shanahan’s line

Downingtown >> Coming into Friday night’s game against Glen Mills, Bishop Shanahan head coach Paul Meyers knew his Eagles would have their hands full with the tough, physical Bulls.
“We knew that Glen Mills was big and physical,” said Meyers after his team controlled the line of scrimmage in a 29-6 win. “So all week long we challenged our offensive line — we told them we’d be running behind their big, physical butts.”
Shanahan senior quarterback Nick Skulski was 13 for 21 for 204 yards with 2 touchdowns and one interception in the victory, pushing the Eagles to 2-0.
“Our offensive line was great tonight,” Skulski said. “They worked so hard in practice all week. We knew that Glen Mills would be coming at us with a lot of size, speed and physical play, but our line handled it.”
Eagles senior wide receiver Brendan Dearing was the offensive star for Shanahan, posting 161 yards receiving, all by the end of the third quarter.
“Our offensive line gave Nick a lot of time,” Dearing said. “When they do that, I can run longer routes.”
“All five of [our offensive linemen] did a great job tonight,” Meyers said.
Shanahan’s offensive line included senior center Jacob Colby (6-1, 285), junior tackle Mac Barry (6-2, 260), junior guard Ryan McLaughlin (6-1, 220), senior tackle Noah Smith (6-1, 225) and junior guard Danny McGinn (5-8, 220).
Glen Mills head coach Kevin Owens watched his team fall to 0-2 on the young season.
“We grew as a team tonight. We were in the red zone four times, and we need to learn to be finishers,” Owens said. “I thought Quadir Gibson and James Timmons played well, and I thought our offensive line played excellent tonight, particularly Braedon Gurns, Curtis Hogue and Jody Rudy. We’ve got some 15-, 16-year-old kids who haven’t even played football before this season. I’m proud of my team, and we will get better each time out.”
Shanahan scored the first time it had the ball, on a 65-yard drive that was highlighted by four Skulski completions totalling 45 yards to four different receivers. The capper was a 16-yard touchdown strike to senior tight end John Kozinski for a 7-0 lead with 5:49 to play in the first quarter.
Late in the first quarter, Shanahan put together a five-play, 57-yard scoring drive culminated by a 25-yard touchdown pass to Dearing, who was open over the middle. A successful two-point conversion put the Eagles ahead 15-0 with 11:45 to play before halftime.
The next time Shanahan got the ball, they put on a 96-yard drive highlighted by a 32-yard run by senior Joe Gueriera, and two passes from Skulski to Dearing totalling 59 yards. Junior Liam Dearing crashed in for a touchdown on a 10-yard run, and Shanahan had a 22-0 lead with 4:21 to play before halftime.
Glen Mills came out looking good on its first offensive drive after halftime, moving down to the Eagles’ 7 yard line, largely on the back of junior running back Quadir Gibson (6-0, 233). But a fumble seven yards from paydirt gave the ball back to Shanahan, which began a nine-play, 93-yard drive for a touchdown to make it 29-0. The highlight was a leaping catch by Brendan Dearing on the right sideline for a 35-yard gain.
“I’ve seen [Dearing] do it before,” Skulski said. “It was a flood right play, and I know Brendan was beating the guy. When I put the ball up there, I know that he’ll always catch it.”
“Brendan is one of the best two-way players in the league,” Meyers said.
Dearing, was the star again for Shanahan, one week after grabbing two sizable touchdown passes from Skulski in the win against George Washington.
“Nick and I worked really hard on our pass patterns during the offseason,” Dearing said. “I knew before I turned my head [on the 35-yard catch] that the ball was going to be there.”
Midway through the final quarter, Glen Mills broke through for a touchdown. Gibson took a screen pass from junior quarterback James Timmons, and behind some fine blocking, rumbled 75 yards for a score.