Archbishop Shaw is headed back to the Division-II Select semifinals for the third straight season and may be gaining steam in the process.
The No. 7 Eagles (8-4), a new-look team after several key graduations from the 2024 title run, traveled Friday to Shreveport and returned home with a dominant 38-7 win that upended No. 2 Loyola Prep’s record run.
“We didn’t tonight, so we scored on every possession,” Archbishop Shaw coach Hank Tierney said. “I thought we really played well offensively, which we thought we had to control the ball anyway and keep them off the field. And then we really had a shutout until we put our young kids in, so real happy with the effort.
“We went two games without scoring. Week 9 and Week 10, we got shutout, and then here we are four quarters from the Superdome. So we’re pretty excited, with a young team. We graduated 17 starters from the state championship team.”
The legendary coach lamented that the Flyers (10-2) were without star junior quarterback Bryce Restovich, who was ruled out early in the week because of illness.
“First of all, I really feel bad about their quarterback not playing,” Tierney said. “We’re competitors, and we appreciate great players. Watching that young man on film, he was a great player, and him not playing tonight definitely hurt their chances. We wanted him to play. We wanted to go against a great thrower like he is.”
But the Eagles meanwhile went to immediate and effective work keeping the Loyola Prep offense off the Messmer Stadium field entirely.
The defense was stifling, and the option running attack of quarterback Allen Shaw III and running back Deandree Franklin. controlled possession and the clock in the first half and helped build a 28-0 cushion by halftime.
“It was very important to keep our defense off the field and just hold the ball as long as we could so they wouldn’t have a shot to go score,” Shaw said. “Coach told us, ‘Hold the ball as long as we can, score as much as we can, and we’ll win.”
Franklin opened the scoring with a 4-yard run midway through the first quarter, then Shaw III and junior receiver Tyre Lowe doubled the early lead with a scoring strike early in the second to cap a 95-yard drive.
Shaw, Franklin and company kept churching to another touchdown each before the break: a 1-yarder and 7-yarder, respectively.
“We had to come out and make a statement, get a statement win,” Tulane-committed senior defensive back Jackson Williams said. “It started on defense since we’re like the backbone of the team, just giving energy so the offense could come out and produce.”
A 32-yard field goal from sophomore JonCarlos D’Bran extended the lead to 31-0 before the Flyers were finally able to move the ball and set up a 42-yard field goal attempt of their own.
But junior safeties Rontrae Carter and Dejuan Rivera blocked and returned the kick, respectively, for a victory-icing score to advance the Eagles to a semifinal matchup against No. 6 Vanderbilt Catholic (11-1).
Shaw was able to rest much of its starting defense late, and Loyola finally cashed in as senior Mason Drake punched in a late touchdown to cap a remarkable Flyers season, including the first quarterfinal appearance since 2008.