No. 4 Downingtown East makes quick work of previously perfect Bishop Shanahan

DOWNINGTOWN >> Something had to give Friday night at Jack Mancini Stadium as two undefeated Ches-Mont League teams — Downingtown East and Bishop Shanahan — prepared for a showdown.

The only thing that gave was the Shanahan offensive and defensive lines, as Downingtown East showed its might on both sides of the ball and the Cougars rolled to a very impressive 34-7 Ches-Mont League triumph.

The Cougars (2-0 Ches-Mont, 5-0 overall), ranked fourth in this week’s Pa. Prep Live Top 20, churned out 325 yards on the ground with a dazzling display of power football, but it was the Cougar defense which stole the show as for the second week in a row, allowing the opposition just one score.

One of the stars on defense was linebacker Trent McNally, who hit every Eagle (1-1, 4-1) that moved and was a big part of a unit that held Shanahan to just 31 yards rushing and 113 total yards. Downingtown East rolled up 22 first downs to just eight for Bishop Shanahan.

“We have not changed any scheme but our attitude and confidence is up,” McNally said. “All week long our coaches tell us to go 100 percent at practice and the least two weeks it has carried over to the game. We went out tonight and dominated the line of scrimmage and gave it everything we had on every play.”

The Shanahan offense got off to a good start after taking the opening kickoff. The Eagles drove to the Cougars’ 35 yard line, but Dan DiBeneditto was stopped a yard short on a fourth and 10 play and Downingtown East went on one of its patented drives, running the ball right at the Eagles. Brassir Stocker, Garvey Jonassaint (who scored three touchdowns) and Tim Aivado all had big runs and Jonassaint capped the 12 play drive with an eight yard touchdown run to make it a 7-0 game.

With the Eagles’ offense not being able to do anything, time of possession went to he Cougars and they drove down the field again and Jonassaint went around the right side for a two-yard score and it was a 14-0 game early in the second period.

“They are big and physical and they just wore us down,” said Bishop Shanahan head coach Paul Meyers. “They do a lot of things right. They are a good football team. Give them credit. We battled but they were too much for us.”

Downingtown East can not just batter you, they also can break a big play as Stocker did with just over six minutes to play in the second period, breaking two tackles and scampering 40 yards for a 21-0 Cougar lead.

But, the Eagles came right back after Andre Moffatt fielded a bad snap on a punt attempt and went 14 yards for a Shanahan first down. The Eagles took over five minutes to move the ball to the Cougar four yard line where DiBeneditto hit Tommy Waite in the end zone, and it was a 21-7 Downingtown East lead at a halftime.

The Cougar defense forced a quick three and out early in the third period from the Eagles and it was apparent that Shanahan would not have enough offense to come back. The Cougar defense hit hard and often, with one of the big hitters being senior lineman Connor Munnelly. Even two Shanahan interceptions of Bryce Lauletta’s passes could not be turned into points against the ravenous Cougar defense.

“Since the second half of the Roman Catholic game we have been playing tough Downingtown football,” Munnelly said. “I think we had a attitude change, I think we got our swagger back.”

Downingtown East chewed up the clock and the Shanahan front with its running game again in the second half as the Cougars scored two more rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter, leading to the Cougars’ still-perfect record. Jonassaint went in for his third score of the night and Aivado cracked in from 21 yards out to end the scoring.

“A lot of these guys on defense did not play last year,” said Downingtown East head coach Mike Matta. “Our front line has been good all year and our linebackers played real well tonight and I thought our secondary did a nice job. We have a lot of guys that can play and since the first half of the Roman game I have been pretty happy with them.”