DOWNINGTOWN — In the parthenon of great local football rivalries, Downingtown West vs. Bishop Shanahan can sometimes not get the attention it deserves. But it has become one of the most heated and hotly contested games on the local slate in the last few years.
The latest renewal on Friday evening at Jack Mancini Stadium, saw a tale of two halves. The first 24 minutes was an offensive showcase for both teams, but the Whippets turned up the defense and held the Eagles scoreless after halftime and went to post a 33-21 Ches-Mont League North Division triumph.
“Absolutely, this is a great rivalry,” said West coach Tom Kline. “This is the Battle of Downingtown. Between Downingtown East and Shanahan, you have three schools within seven or eight miles of each other. These kids all know each other, grew up with each other. This is a great rivalry.
“They are a well coached team and I think they’ll do a great job in the 4A playoffs. They’re a good team.”
After allowing 180 yards and 21 points in the first half, West gave up 0 points and 108 yards in the second.
“The coaches did a great job making adjustments and the kids just did a better job in the half,” added Kline. “They were grittier. In the early part of our season we played some tough teams and faced some adversity. We had a couple of occasions early in the year where things didn’t go our way and we learned from that. We were trailing by a point at halftime. We corrected some things and played outstanding in the second half.”
The teams traded touchdowns the first two times they touched the ball. West took the opening kickoff and quickly went 65 yards for the score. The Whippets were helped on the first play as quarterback Cole Bricker scrambled for 22 yards and a 15-yard personal flag call was added to put West in Shanahan’s end. They finished it off as Bricker hit JD Weller for an eight-yard score in the right corner of the end zone for the early lead.
The Eagles struck right back. On the ninth play of their drive,AnthonyAquila hit his favorite targetAidan Civitella on a slant that went for 24 yards into the end zone to tie the contest at 7-7. Shanahan was on the march at the end of the first quarter. Three plays into the second, Aqulia slithered in from the one to put the Eagles in front.
“He’s a gamer,” Shanahan coach Paul Meyers said of Aquila. “Every game you know what you’re going to get from him. He’s going to make plays. Defensively, he was a stud tonight. Hitting people, stepping up and filling holes. He can do it on both sides of the ball.”
The pendulum swung back to the Whippets (1-0 Ches-Mont North, 6-2 overall). Bricker hit Brandon Goode-Kimble for a 26-yard strike to even the score again.
“He gets criticized a lot out there and I defend him every day,” Kline said of Bricker. “He’s a great player. He’s the reason why we are 6-2 right now. Everybody keeps coming at us about him making mistakes and throwing interceptions, but the kid’s trying to make plays and trying to win football games.”
Shanahan went back in front as Aquila dropped a pass into the bucket for Civatella in the left corner that was good for a 33-yard score.
Late in the half, West held serve. Amari Cannon found some open space and broke free for a 47-yard gain to the Shanahan eight. Two plays later, he powered in from the two. However, West missed the extra point and trailed 21-20.
“This win was pretty important. They got us last year,” said Cannon. “We had a mindset that we weren’t going to let that happen again. I just saw green and I go. The line opened it up for me. They work hard all week and I’m not anything without my O-line.”
The teams spent most of the first half trading touchdowns, they started the third trading turnovers. First, Aquila was hit in the backfield and fumbled. TJ Sinkus recovered and the Whippets were set up on the Shanahan 39. Bricker was looking for a deep shot on the 25, but was intercepted by Aquila in the shadow of the goal line.
West broke the third quarter stalemate as Bricker stayed in the pocket and unleashed a pass before he got hit that found Cannon for a 40-yard gain to the Shanahan one. Cannon was stopped on first down, but on his second try, he powered into the end zone. The two-point conversion failed, so West had a 26-21 advantage.
Two more Cannon scores gave him three on the night to go along with 114 yards on the ground. Shanahan had one more chance to cut the deficit, but its drive stalled in West territory putting the final touches on the win.
Downingtown West 33, Bishop Shanahan 21
Downingtown West 7 13 6 7 – 33
Bishop Shanahan 7 14 0 0 – 21
Scoring
DW – Weller 8 pass from Bricker (Sharp kick)
BS – Civitella 24 pass from Aquila (DeBellis kick)
BS -Aquila 1 run (DeBellis kick)
DW – Goode-Kimble 26 pass from Bricker (Sharp kick)
BS – Civitella 33 pass froAquila (DeBellis kick)
DW – Cannon 2 run (kick failed) DW – Cannon 1 run (pass failed)
DW – Cannon 2 run (Sharp kick)
Team Totals
DW BS
First downs 18 16
Yards rushing 32-176 30-80
Yards passing 85 206
Total yards 261 286
Passing 5-9-1 20-30-0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Punts-avg 3-34.0 4-27.5
Penalties 7-55 1-15
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Downingtown West – Cannon 20-114 3TD; Bricker 2-24; McComsey 2-22; Levey 1- 8; Sinkus 1-7; McGovern 1-8; Dixon 1-4; Wolfington 2-(-2); Team 2-(-2). Bishop Shanahan – Aquila 22-69 TD; Bracken 17-11.
Passing: Downingtown West – Bricker 5-9-1 85 yards 2TD. Bishop Shanahan:Aquila 20-30-0 206 yards 2TD.
Receiving: Downingtown West – Cannon 1-40; Goode-Kimble 1-26 TD; Weller 1-8 TD; Shoemaker 1-6; Wolfington 1-5. Bishop Shanahan: Civitella 10-112 2TD; McGrory 7-54; Keenan 3-40.
Sacks: Downingtown West – Sinkus.
Interceptions: Bishop Shanahan -Aquila.
Source: Berkshire mont