Bishop Shanahan Believes It Can Win, Knocks Off Unionville in Thriller

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Willie McGonigle | September 20, 2025

DOWNINGTOWN: All week, the message Bishop Shanahan delivered to his team was to believe in themselves. That message was delivered after the Eagles dropped a tough 28-21 decision last week to Pope John Paul II.   On Friday night, the Eagles adhered to their coach’s message, stopping a two-point conversion with 1:09 left to come away with a 35-34 lead over visiting Unionville Longhorns in a Chest-Mont League crossover thriller.

“Our whole thing this week was belief,” Eagles Paul Meyers said. “I don’t know if we really believed we were going to win last week. I think that two-point conversion proved they were listening to us.”

Entering the game, both teams had two of the most dangerous backfield duos in the area. In Unionville’s corner, Tommy McGinnis and Brody McLaughlin, and in the Bishop Shanahan corner, Anthony Aquila and Nate Bracken, and right from the beginning, they put on a show that gave everyone their money’s worth.

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Eagles set the tone for a seesaw battle, marching 68 yards on six plays with Bracken’s leg doing the majority of the damage, but it was Aquila’s arm that capped the drive when he connected Zach Reilly for a 6-yard touchdown, giving the Eagles the early 7-0.

The Longhorns wasted little time knotting things up, needing just three plays, including a 61-yard run by Drew Puleo on a jet sweep to set the Longhorns up at the Eagles’ 3, and on the next play, McLaughlin powered his way in from three yards out, tying the game at 7.

The Eagles countered right back with an 11-play 57-yard drive that Aidan Civitella capped with his 14-yard touchdown run that gave the Eagles the 14-7 lead.

Once again, the Longhorns responded this time with a 7-play 62-yard drive that was capped on the opening play of the second quarter when Puleo hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass from McGinnis, knotting things up at 14.

The Eagles responded in four plays with Bracken breaking through the Longhorn defense and racing 72 yards to give the Eagles the 21-14 lead.

Once again, though, the Longhorns responded, piecing together an eight-play drive that McLaughlin capped off with his second touchdown of the day this one from 4 yards out.

After seeing scores on the first six possessions of the game, we got our first defensive stop in the game when the Longhorns stopped the Eagles on fourth down on their ensuing possession. The Longhorns appeared poised to take the lead heading into the locker room at halftime, reaching the Eagles’ 20 before McGinnis was intercepted by Civitella in the end zone. The Eagles elected to take a knee to run out the clock and send the teams into the locker room tied at 21.

After trading stops on each other’s opening possessions, the scoring picked right back up, but this time it was the Longhorns that drew first blood in the second half, driving 62 yards on six plays before McGinnis let his legs do the work, taking it in from 21 yards out, giving them the 28-21 lead.

The lead, however, was short-lived as on the next play from scrimmage Aquila showed what his legs could do, racing down the Eagles’ sideline on his way to a 68-yard touchdown, once again knotting things up at 28.

On the ensuing drive, the Longhorns managed to put together another beautiful drive, reaching Eagles’ 18 before losing a fumble. The Eagles took advantage of the turnover, piecing together a twelve-play drive and taking the lead with Aquila taking it in from a yard out, giving the Eagles the 35-28 lead.  Aquila finished the game with 91 yards on 13 carries, while Bracken finished with 223 yards on 19 carries.

On the first play of the ensuing possession, McGinnis was intercepted by Brian Donohue, but the Longhorns’ defense did their job, ensuring that the Eagles weren’t able to tack on to their lead, setting the stage for late-game drama.

After getting a stop, the Longhorns took possession with 6:04 left in the game and needing a scoring to tie the game and they did just that with ten play drive that went 71 yards and was capped off McLaughlin two yard touchdown run making it 35-34 with 1:09 left to play and Longhorn Head Coach Tim Murphy didn’t hesitate sending his offense out to go for two and the win but Aquila and the Eagles had different plans stopping McLaughlin short of the goal line.

The Longhorns did get one final crack at the win, after Jacob Roddy pinned the Longhorns at their own 11 with a beautiful punt, the Longhorns took over with 35 seconds remaining. They managed to reach Eagles 47, and a last-second Hail Mary got the Longhorns down to the Eagles 20, where McLaughlin was tackled as time expired.  McLaughlin finished the game with 118 yards and 3 touchdowns on 23 carries to go along with 3 catches for 62 yards, while McGinnis finished with 120 yards on 20 carries to go along with 128 yards on 9 of 16 passing. McGinnis and McLaughlin drew praise from Meyers, who said, “(Unionville’s) quarterback and running back are awesome. We said to our team, they’re two of the best we’ll see all year.

Despite the late game drama, Bracken never doubted that the Eagles were going to be victorious, saying, “Everyone was just playing with so much heart, and we knew we wanted it; I knew we were going to win.”

Next week, the Eagles will look to improve to 4-1 when they host West Chester Henderson in another Chest-Mont crossover matchup. The Longhorns will look to improve to 4-2 when they host Oxford in the Chest-Mont South Division opener for both teams.

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