Bishop Shanahan

By Jeff Kerr

jkerr@dailylocal.com

@jeff_kerr on Twitter

DOWNINGTOWN -- The expectations have changed for the Bishop Shanahan football program over the past year.

In 2013, head coach Paul Meyers played to the strengths of his personnel in installing a spread offense and a 3-4 defense.

The results showed as the Eagles won their first three games en route to clinching a .500 regular season record and a District 1 Class AAA playoff berth for the first time since 2010.

After falling in the quarterfinals to West Chester Henderson by a touchdown (lost to them 42-14 in the regular season), any trip short of returning to the district playoffs is a disappointment for Meyers.

Especially since Shanahan has never made the playoffs in back-to-back years.

“If we stay healthy, we can go pretty far,” Meyers said. “Going to the district playoffs is a long term goal. We’re just taking things one week at a time.”

The Eagles certainly have the talent on both sides of the ball to return to the district playoffs, starting with senior quarterback Danny Murphy.

Murphy, who won the quarterback job as a junior last year, thrived in Meyers’ spread offense (149 carries, 872 yards, 10 TD’s). Over the offseason, Murphy worked on his passing game (50-111, 720 yds., 7 TD, 4 INT) to become a true dual-threat quarterback.

“Danny’s worked with a throwing coach all summer and he’s doing a lot better,” Meyers said. “His mechanics are better and he’s setting his feet more. He’ll be a lot better (throwing) than he was last year.”

Murphy will also have his top-two targets returning in wide receiver Jeff Zebrowski (19 receptions, 228 yds., 3 TD’s) and tight end Cody Smith (27 rec. 308 yds., 3 TD’s), who gave a verbal to Princeton over the summer.

Smith (38 car., 415 yds. 4 TD’s) and Nick Pasvanis (47 car, 343 yds., 2 TD’s) will provide some insurance for Murphy in the running game. Jerry Riccardo will also see some carries.

“It’s going to be our skill guys on offense,” Meyers said. “With that spread, it’s going to give us the ability to run the ball and throw it with those guys, especially with Murph (Murphy) back there. You don’t know what he’s going to do when he rolls out of the pocket.”

Numbers will plague Shanahan, but the Eagles have depth on both sides of the ball. Of the two-way players the Eagles will use this year, Doug Costin highlights the group.

Costin had a breakout year on the offensive and defensive line in 2013 and is expected to build on that in his junior year. He had 6.5 sacks last season and consistently terrorized some of the best offensive lines in the Ches-Mont.

Greg Rankin and Matt Evans highlight the linebacker corps in Shanahan’s 3-4 defense, while Smith will hybrid between defensive end and linebacker.

Meyers is relying on Mike Sprague, a junior, to help shut down opposing receivers in the secondary. The Eagles have five returning starters on a defense that allowed just 17.7 points a game last year, a huge improvement over the 25.9 allowed two seasons prior.

“We got two good corners that we feel have the ability to shut people down,” Meyers said. “That will give us the ability to give us the pressure up front from guys like Doug (Costin), Matt (Evans) and Greg (Rankin). They’re going to give teams a fit.”

With 15 seniors returning, Shanahan has the talent to compete with the top teams in a wide-open National Division. The Eagles showed glimpses of a winning team last year, but need the results for the finished product.

“There’s a lot of talent in the National,” Meyers said. “Coatesville and Henderson are going to be real good, Downingtown East is one of the best coached teams in the league, West Chester East is going to be good, and obviously Downingtown West are the champions. I think we’ll be in good shape.”