DOWNINGTOWN — In a game of big plays and many twists and turns Friday night at Kottmeyer Stadium, it was Downingtown East that came out on top of Bishop Shanahan, 35-26, in a Ches-Mont North Division contest. The Cougars will play Downingtown West next Friday for the North Division championship.
The game started with the Eagles (0-2 Ches-Mont North, 6-3 overall) recovering an onside kick at their own 49 yard line. They kept the ball for seven minutes as they went on an 11-play drive that stalled when Nate Bracken was stopped on a fourth-and-goal play at the Cougars’ (2-0, 7-2) one yard line.
“We told the kids that they might try the kick,” Cougars’ head coach Mike Matta said. “We just did not execute well. That stop on the goal line was big for us. And we stopped them later in the game in the red zone on fourth down so I was pretty happy about that.”
After the goal line stand, the Cougars superlative sophomore running back Juelz Chiron-Robinson raced 83 yards for the opening score on East’s third offensive play, and it was 7-0.
“I knew we were backed up on the goal line so I had to make something happen,” Chiron-Robinson said. “I like to set the tone for the game and after the defense did their job I wanted to make something happen.”
Chiron-Robinson rushed the ball 29 times for 218 yards for the night and was a handful for the Eagles’ defense all evening. The Cougars rushed for 278 yards for the game.
The Eagles struck right back as quarterback Anthony Aquila raced in from seven yards out to make it 7-7 early in the second period. Aquila, in addition to playing quarterback, rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns. He also played safety on defense and returned kickoffs for Shanahan and was the main man the Cougars had to stop all night.
After the Eagles tied the score, they tried a short squibb kick. This time the Cougars’ Charlie Mapes scooped up the football and raced 65 yards untouched to the end zone for a 14-7 lead.
East got another rushing touchdown from Chiron-Robinson late in the second period to take a 21-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“Getting that score late in the period was big,” Chiron-Robinson said. “I have to give credit to my O-line. They have grit and determination and I think they are the best around. I love those guys.”
The second half saw the Eagles put the ball in Aquila’s capable hands. On the first play of the third period, the Shanahan signalcaller called his own number and raced 63 yards untouched to the end zone, and the Eagles clawed to within 21-14.
“I think Anthony has to be the MVP of this league,” Shanahan head coach Paul Meyers said. “He does it all for us. Anthony is such a great athlete and leader. We battled but we got stopped two times in the red zone and that was the difference tonight.”
The Cougars came right back to score the next two touchdowns and open up a 35-14 lead early in the fourth period. Alex Rios capped off a Cougars’ drive with a three-yard plunge, and then John Morrin took an Ethan Ellis pass 26 yards to pay dirt. Morrin knocked four Eagles’ tacklers over on his touchdown jaunt.
Shanahan would not quit, however. Aquila scored on two more touchdown runs to make it 35-26 with 2:41 left in the fourth period. The last Eagles’ touchdown run was set up by a pretty 42-yard pass from Aquila to Aidan Civitella down to the Cougars’ 22-yard line. In addition to rushing for 155 yards, Aquila passed for another 174 yards as the Eagles’ pounded out 385 yards of total offense on the Cougars’ defense.
Shanahan tried another onside kick after the touchdown, but this time the Cougars recovered and ran out the clock. The Eagles will travel to Coatesville next Friday in the regular season closing game.
“(Aquilla) may be the best player we played all year,” Matta said. “ He really does it all for them. We did not play as good as I would have liked, but we did some good things and things I feel we can build on.”
Downingtown East 35, Bishop Shanahan 26
Bishop Shanahan 0 7 7 12 – 26
Downingtown East 7 14 77 – 35
Scoring
DE — Chiron-Robinson 83 run (Selden kick)
Second Period
BS — Aquila 7 run (Caruso kick)
DE — Makes 65 kickoff return (Selden kick)
DE — Chiron-Robinson 10 run (Selden kick)
Third Period
BS — Aquila 63 run (Caruso kick)
DE — Rios 3 run (Selden kick)
Fourth Period
DE — Morrin 26 pass from Ellis (Selden kick)
BS — Aquila 1 run (kick failed)
BS — Aquila 5 run (pass failed)
Team Totals
BS DE
First downs 17 17
Yards rushing 211 278
Yards passing 174 58
Total yards 385 336
Passing 12-21-0 3-4-0
Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0
Punts-avg 2-33.0 2-23.5
Penalties-yds 2-20 3-15
Individual Statistics
Rushing — BS: Aquila 24-155, 4 TD’s; Bracken 14-42; Civitella 2-10; Keenan 1-4. DE: Chiron-Robinson 29-218, 2 TD’s; Morrin 4-51; Rios 2-5, TD; Ellis 2-4.
Passing — BS: Aquila 12-21-174. DE: Ellis 3-4-58, TD.
Receiving — BS: McGrory 5-70; Keenan 1-9; Bracken 3-8; Civitella 3-87. DE: Morrin 1 -26, TD; Sesay 1-22; Miller 1-10.
Sacks — DE: Sesay 2, Rios.
Source: Berkshire mont
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