Football: Pope John Paul II bombards Bishop Shanahan, wins first District 1 title since 2019

UPPER PROVIDENCE >> Ever since losing last season’s District 1-4A football championship game, Pope John Paul II has been on a mission to get back to the final and win it. That year-long task was accomplished on Saturday afternoon with a 42-14 win over visiting Bishop Shanahan, not only giving the Golden Panthers the title, but also sending them to the PIAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.

PJP will face Bonner-Prendergast, a three-time District 12 champion, in a first-round state contest set for the South Philadelphia Supersite on Saturday at 12 p.m.

Senior running back Boyd Skarbek ran for 164 yards and two touchdowns for No. 1 seed Pope John Paul (12-0), which led 35-0 at the half, and T.J. Boccella led the Panther defense that allowed only 137 total yards. Zach Ferraro passed for 91 yards and Johnny Wagner rushed for 40 for the No. 2 seed Eagles (6-6).

“We’re on a mission,” said senior defensive tackle Boccella. “We’ve been very humble, very hungry, because we didn’t win the championship last year.”

“There’s no question,” said Panther coach Scott Reed. “From the moment we walked off the field last year (following a 38-14 loss to Interboro), I’ve been thinking how can we get on the other side. Now that we’ve accomplished that, it’s on to the next one.”

The Golden Panthers tallied on five of their six possessions in the first half, grinding out drives three times and scoring on big plays the other two.

The PJP defense quickly forced a Shanahan punt on the first possession of the game and the offense drove 52 yards on six plays in just under five minutes to take the lead, with Skarbek running four times for 21 yards and quarterback Luke Terlesky (8-for-11 for 78 yards) hitting Denny Owens with a 4-yard TD pass.

“We got the 3-and-out, which we always try to do,” said Reed. “We were grinding the ball down the field. They didn’t make it easy on us the first two times. The defense got the ball back and we kept scoring it.”

Then the Eagles picked up their initial first down on a 10-yard run by Anthony Aquila to the 38 yard line. But Boccella burst through the line and dropped a runner for a 5-yard loss and Braden Reed sacked the quarterback for a 13-yard loss, forcing another punt.

This time, PJP drove 54 yards, finished up by a 5-yard run by Brent Mitala. Another quick defensive stop set the Panthers up at the Eagle 48 and Skarbek sped into the end zone on the next play for a 21-0 lead less than a minute into the second quarter. Then PJP recovered an on-side kick and marched 48 yards, the last four on a run by Reed.

The Panthers made it 35-0 with 2:37 remaining in the half when Terlesky handed off to Jacob Lucci, who made a short shovel pass to Reed, who tore away from one defender and out-ran the others for an 89-yard touchdown play.

“We did a couple different things,” said coach Reed. “If you’re going to go for it, a game like this is a good place to bring it out.”

“The passing game was there … the running game was there,” said Skarbek. “We dominated both sides; feeling good about our team.”

PJP wound up its scoring with a 56-yard drive following the second half kickoff with Skarbek carrying the ball five times for all of the yards and finishing up with a 4-yard run.

Senior quarterback Ferraro (5 for 11 for 92 yards) passed 14 yards to Nate Olivo to top off an 80-yard yard drive in the third quarter and Owen McGrory ran two yards for a score in the fourth for the Eagles.

“They’re a tough team,” said Skarbek. “They’re physical up front. We wanted it more and came out with a win. It’s just a 1-0 mentality. Every week is tough. They want to come out and beat us. It’s their Super Bowl. We always get their best game, but we stay humble.”

“We wanted to stop their screens,” said Boccella. “Their running back is pretty good. We wanted to stop their running game.”

Bonner (9-2) led 28-7 at the half in its win. Last year, the Friars defeated Interboro 33-21 in the PIAA opening round and lost 21-14 to Crestwood in a quarterfinal.

PJP, then playing in Class 3A, lost to Tamaqua 47-21 in the first round in 2019.

“I’m very happy,” said Boccella. “The road isn’t over. Maybe we can keep winning and go to the state championship.”

“It’s very exciting to win a district championship,” said coach Reed. “And winning the PAC on top of it is gravy. For the freshmen through the seniors, it’s the first time they’ve been able to do it.”

Pope John Paul II 42, Bishop Shanahan 14

Bishop Shanahan 0 0 7 7 – 14

Pope John Paul II 14 21 7 0 – 42

PJP-Owens 4 pass from Terlesky (Bosio kick)

PJP-Mitala 5 run (Bosio kick)

PJP-B Skarbek 48 run (Bosio kick)

PJP-Reed 4 run (Bosio kick)

PJP-Reed 89 pass from J Lucci (Bosio kick)

PJP-B Skarbek 4 run (Bosio kick)

BS-Olivo 14 pass from Ferraro (Debellis kick)

BS-McGrory 2 run (Debellis kick

Team Stats 

BS PJP

First Downs 9 23

Yards Rushing       46 229

Yards Passing       91 187

Total Yards          137 416

Passes C-A-I       5-12-0 11-15-1

Fumbles            1-1 1-0

Penalties-Yds        3-20 4-43

Punts-Avg             5-29.4 1-35

Individual Stats

Rushing

Bishop Shanahan:  Wagner 8-40; Aquila 5-11; Gallagher 5-7; Bracken 2-6; McGrory 1-2, 1 TD; Barbadora 4-1; Ferraro 2-(-21), Totals 27-46, 1 TD

Pope John Paul II: B Skarbek 15-164, 2 TD’s; DeAngelo 4-38; Reed 3-17, 1 TD; Mitala 3-13, 1 TD; J Lucci 3-6; Terlesky 1-(-1); Witter 3-(-8), Totals 32-229, 4 TD’s

Passing

Bishop Shanahan: Ferraro 5-11-91, 1 TD; Aquila 0-1, Totals 5-12-91, 1 TD

Pope John Paul II: Terlesky 8-11-78, 1 TD; Witter 2-3-20, 1 INT; J Lucci 1-1-89, 1 TD, Totals 11-15-187, 2 TD’s, 1 INT

Receiving

Bishop Shanahan: Olivo 2-20, 1 TD; Gallagher 1-53; Civitella 1-16; Barbadora 1-2, Totals 5-91, 1 TD

Pope John Paul II: Reed 5-109, 1 TD; B Skarbek 2-32; Owens 2-26, 1 TD; Baldino 1-14, J Lucci 1-6, Totals 11-187, 2 TD’s

Interception: Bishop Shanahan- Weir

Sacks: Pope John Paul II-Reed 1, Parker 0.5, Owens 0.5