Bulldogs win program’s 1st state game, Bishop Shanahan’s season comes to an end.

The Bulldogs had been in this position numerous times Friday night at Selinsgrove’s Harold L. Bolig Memorial Stadium. Unable to create separation against the Eagles’ lightning-quick secondary, they were forced to battle for the ball in the air. Hess just so happened to win this battle.

The ball was tipped as Hess and Romano jumped for it. But even as he was falling, Hess found a way to corral the ball in his arms. It set Jersey Shore up with first-and-goal at the Shanahan 4-yard line, and when Lorson punched in his third rushing touchdown on the next play, the Bulldogs finally had breathing room.

A six-point lead became 12, and Jersey Shore was on its way to a 33-14 win over District 1 champion Bishop Shanahan, which was playing in its first state tournament game in program history. Jersey Shore advanced to the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class AAAA tournament, taking its first state tournament win in school history. The Bulldogs face the winner of tonight’s game between Allentown Central Catholic and Pottsville.

“I’m so proud of them and everything they’ve done,” said an elated Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish. “These guys have embraced everything. It doesn’t matter who scores the touchdowns or what formations we’re in. There’s people contributing all over the place. It’s just an all-out team effort.”

Jersey Shore was on life support when Hess made the improbable first-down catch down the right sideline. Bishop Shanahan launched a 14-play, 72-yard drive which took nearly 6 minutes to open the third quarter and cut Shore’s lead to 20-14. And having recorded just one first down on its previous three drives, the Bulldogs needed any kind of spark.

A big gain on a crossing pattern over the middle to Owen Anderson which would have set up the Bulldogs with a goal-to-go situation was wiped off the board because of an ineligible receiver downfield. So staring third-and-17 in the face with the prospect of punting the ball back to an Eagles offense which was beginning to get hot just didn’t seem like something which would just further suppress the momentum the Bulldogs had gained with a three-touchdown first half.

Like the other jump balls which had been throw before this particular one to Hess, the ball was batter in the air. But unlike the other ones, Hess had a beat on it the whole way, focusing on the cross created by the four sections of leather coming together at the ball’s point. And even as he fell to the ground, he felt like he was in a food spot to make the catch.

“I felt the energy start going out of the roof after that and I loved it,” said Hess, who finished with five catches for 59 yards. “I think it was comforting to the whole team getting that.”

“That’s a momentum-booster which just kept us rolling,” said Shore’s Brett Guthrie, whose fourth-quarter interception set up the Bulldogs’ final touchdown. “When you see that, you say there’s no way we’re taking our foot off the gas. We have to punch it in there. You have to take advantage of the opportunities that are given to you.”

But it was the defense which came to the rescue often Friday night. When Jersey Shore’s offense got bogged down, the Bulldogs’ defense found ways to hold Bishop Shanahan at bay. First it was Karter Peacock’s strip sack in the second quarter which Gabe Packer recovered, setting up Shore for a two-play, 48-yard touchdown drive.

Then it was Dalton Dugan coming out of the pile with the football when dynamic Eagles quarterback Cooper Jordan fumbled for the second time in the second quarter, this time at the Shore 2-yard line. It thwarted a scoring opportunity which would have put Shanahan within a touchdown at halftime knowing it was receiving the second-half kick.

Bishop Shanahan saw offensive success in limited spurts last night. But its success was never sustained enough to threaten the lead built by Jersey Shore in the first two quarters. When pressuring the diminutive Jordan (5-foot-8, 130 pounds), the Bulldogs defensive line maintained its lanes up the middle and contain on the outside to keep the human joystick of a runner bottled up. It was until the Bulldogs had a three-score lead late in the fourth quarter that Jordan finally found some running lanes of which to take advantage.

“At the end he was ripping off those runs like he was a Cam Newton kind of guy, tucking the ball and getting outside,” Gravish said. “That kid over there has the ability to score seven touchdowns in a game and get in the open field.”

“It’s all about lane integrity. That’s what the coaches were pounding into us all week,” Guthrie said. “The coaches like to repeat themselves a little bit, but it sinks in. They like to get their main points out there and that was an important one.”

Shore’s offense looked like it was going to roll early when its second snap of the game was an option pitch to the left and Josh Malicky (19 carries, 127 yards, 2 TDs) and sprinted untouched 62 yards for a touchdown. The Bulldogs continually went back to the well on that option game until Shanahan made adjustments to close it down. But even after it did, Lorson used the good faith he built up by constantly pitching on the option to fake a pitch on a second-quarter option play to the left. When he faked, the entire defense bit, opening up a running lane to a 25-yard touchdown.

Lorson struggled throwing the ball, completing just 9 of 20 passes for 120 yards. But he was able to gouge the Eagles on the ground in key spots and ran for 79 yards and three touchdowns.

“We watched how their D-ends were coming off the ball and we knew we had it,” Hess said. “We studied that all week watching film so we could run that option.”

Jersey Shore 33,

Bishop Shanahan 14

Bishop Shanahan 7 0 7 0 – 14

Jersey Shore 7 13 0 13 – 33

First quarter

JS – Josh Malicky 62 run (Cameron Allison kick), 11:34

BS – Brandon Choi 5 run (Connor Bailey kick), 1:29

Second quarter

JS – Tanner Lorson 25 run (Allison kick), 10:01

JS – Lorson 2 run (kick failed), 6:15

Third quarter

BS – Connor Roth 18 pass from Cooper Jordan (Bailey kick), 6:03

Fourth quarter

JS – Lorson 4 run (pass failed), 11:26

JS – Malicky 1 run (Allison kick), 3:42

TEAM STATISTICS

BS JS

First downs 17 16

Rushes-yards 42-114 42-217

Passing yards 175 120

Total yards 289 337

C-A-I 13-22-1 9-20-0

Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1

Penalties-yards 7-79 9-46

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Bishop Shanahan, Cooper Jordan, 16-62; Simmi Whitehill, 4-33; Brandon Choi, 8-27, TD; Jon Loftus, 3-5; Garrett Glendenning, 6-3; Team, 1-(minus-7); Gus Ross, 5-(minus-9). Jersey Shore, Josh Malicky, 19-127, 2 TDs; Tanner Lorson, 25-79, 3 TDs; Dawson Sechrist, 2-8; Owen Anderson, 1-3.

PASSING: Bishop Shanahan, Cooper Jordan, 13-22-1, 175, TD. Jersey Shore, Tanner Lorson, 9-20-0, 120.

RECEIVING: Bishop Shanahan, Gus Ross, 5-59; Ryan Smyth, 4-51; Simmi Whitehill, 1-27; Jon Loftus, 1-19; Connor Roth, 1-18, TD; Garrett Glendenning, 1-0. Jersey Shore, Cayden Hess, 5-59; Stanton Westlin, 1-46; Owen Anderson, 1-10; Josh Malicky, 1-3; Anthony Shaffer, 1-2.

INTERCEPTIONS: Jersey Shore, Brett Guthrie 1.

RECORDS: Jersey Shore (10-3), Bishop Shanahan (7-5).