North Pocono Takes Down Bishop Shanahan in Thrilling Battle of 4A Heavyweights

Tagged under: District 1, District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

Willie McGonigle | November 15, 2025

DOWNINGTOWN: Philadelphia is the home of Rocky and has seen its fair share of big-time heavyweight battles and has produced many big-name fighters. On Friday night, Jack Mancini Field on the campus of Bishop Shanahan High School was the site of another thriller. In one corner, you had the undefeated District 2 Champions, North Pocono Trojans, and in the other corner, the District 1 Champions, Bishop Shanahan Eagles. All night long, both teams’ offenses went blow for blow, but in the end, it was the Trojans’ defense that landed the knockout blow, allowing the Trojans to come away with a thrilling 40-36 victory.

The knockout blow was delivered by the Trojans’ Seamus Maguire, who, with his team holding a 40-36 lead with under a minute to play, came up with a strip sack of Shanahan’s Anthony Aquila that Josiah Gray recovered for the Trojans and put the cap on what was a wild fourth quarter that saw the lead change five different times.

“The game comes down to players and great kids fighting,” North Pocono head coach Greg Dolhon said. “We have great players on our team, and that is why we are standing where we are today. I could not be prouder of them.”

Despite having an over 2-hour trip that was made a little longer when their bus inadvertently went to Pope John Paul II High School, a mere 30 miles northeast of Bishop Shanahan, the Trojans showed no sign of fatigue. With Cole Zimmerman, Garett Gillete, Gabe Descipio, Warren Kramer, Dylan Caster and tight end Evan Wolf paving the way the Trojans offense took the opening kickoff and drove the ball right down the throat of the Eagles going 68-yards on seven plays with the big play being a 35 yard pass completion from Chase Zimmerman to Cole West on the game’s third play that put the Trojans at the Eagles 16. Four plays later, Josiah Gray found his way to the endzone, giving the Trojans the early 7-0 lead.

The Trojans’ defense came out and, in five plays, forced the high-powered Eagles offense to punt, setting the stage for its offense. After Gray picked up 26 yards on the first play of the ensuing Trojans drive. Four plays later, Gray again found the end zone from four yards out, giving the Trojans the 13-0 lead after the Eagles blocked the PAT.

A Cole West interception ended the Eagles’ second possession; however, the Trojans couldn’t capitalize on the turnover, eventually having to punt.

The Eagles’ offense started to get rolling on their first possession of the second quarter, and it was behind the strength of Aquila’s arm as he completed 4 of 5 passes on the drive, setting up a Nate Bracken eight-yard touchdown run, cutting the Trojans’ lead down to 13-7 with 2:01 left to play in the first half. On their ensuing drive, the Trojans appeared poised to add to their lead, reaching the Eagles’ 32 before Aquila intercepted Chase Zimmerman, keeping it at 13-7 heading into the locker room at halftime

The Eagles came out and went three-and-out to start the second half. The Trojans’ offense needed seven plays to add to their lead, as Gray found the end zone for the third time, this time from 18 yards out, giving the Trojans a 20-7 lead. Gray finished the game with 146 yards on 24 carries and afterwards gave credit to his offensive linemen, saying, “ It is amazing to run behind them because of the holes they open up, I can cut wherever they can open up the wide-open lanes, and they work so hard every week to get better.”

On the ensuing kickoff, Owen McGrory set the Eagles up with great field position with his 64-yard kickoff return that put the Eagles at the Trojan 26. After being sacked on the first play of the drive, Aquila connected with McGrory for 1 1-yard gain, followed by a 20-yard pickup before Aquila let his legs do the damage, taking it the final eight yards for the score, making it 20-14 in favor of the Trojans.

It was the Eagles’ defense that landed the next big play, as on the second play of the ensuing drive, Danny Keenan stepped in front of Chase Zimmerman’s pass, intercepting and returning it 25 yards for the Eagles’ touchdown. The extra point by Salvi Debellis was good, and suddenly the Eagles held the slim 21-20 lead with 4:04 left to play in the third quarter, setting the stage for the WILD fourth quarter.

The Trojans took the ensuing possession and marched 64 yards on 11 plays, all of which were on the ground. It was West that capped the drive on the second play of the fourth quarter with his 4-yard touchdown run, making it 26-20 with 11:38 remaining.

Right back came the Eagles with Aquila leading an eight-play 61-yard drive that was capped by Aquila finding his go-to target, Aidan Civitella, for a 53-yard touchdown, and following Aquila connecting with Bracken on a shovel pass on the 2-point conversion try, the Eagles had a 29-26 lead with 8:29 to play.

The Trojans countered that with another drive that was exclusively on the ground, this one covering 46 yards on eight plays that Chase Zimmerman capped off with his one-yard sneak. Shane Youngblood nailed the extra point, and the Trojans once again found themselves holding the lead at 33-29 with 3:39 remaining

The Eagles needed only four plays to take the lead back when Aquila again found Civitella; this time, the duo connected for a 49-yard touchdown. Debellis’s extra point was good, and the Eagles found themselves with the 36-33 lead with 2:14 left to go.

Five plays once again all on the ground was all the Trojans needed to take back the lead when West, while having several Eagles on his back, capped a 55-yard drive with his 21-yard touchdown run. Youngblood’s extra point was good, putting the Trojans up 40-36 with 45 seconds to play and setting the stage for Maguire to seal the victory with his strip sack.

“Coach Dolhon called that play for me, but it doesn’t happen without the guys upfront. Right before the play happened, Warren (Kramer) said right behind me, and that’s what I did. I trust my guys, so it happens because of them.” West said of his game-winning touchdown. Has a team, the Trojans rushed for 311 yards.

With the victory, the Trojans advance to the State Quarterfinal, where they will take on the winner of Saturday’s District 12 Championship between Cardinal O’Hara and West Philadelphia High School. Details of the game are to be announced.

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