Shaw battles past Evangel, 20-13

MARRERO – The streak stays alive at nine straight wins for Archbishop Shaw.

Visiting Evangel played well but the 5th-seeded host Eagles didn’t want their season to end, battling to a 20-13 victory over the 12th-seeded Evangel Christian in round two of the Select Division II playoffs Friday night at Joe Zimmerman Stadium.

“We thought that Evangel was very, very good and obviously we knew we would have to play really good to win,” Shaw coach Hank Tierney said. “We got behind early and showed a lot of character coming back like we did and our defense had a shutout, which is fantastic against an offense like this. It’s a team win, it’s not just me. I get credit for it, but I have a great coaching staff and I have great kids, great school and it’s all coming together at the right time for Shaw.”

Evangel brought the fight to Shaw early.

Peyton Fulghum found his brother Parker Fulghum on Evangel’s first drive for the 52-yard touchdown but the visiting Eagles missed the point-after kick to lead 6-0.

Neither team reached the opposing red zone for the rest of the opening quarter but Shaw’s J’Quan Carter picked off Fulghum at the Shaw 27-yard line to set up Henry Zelaya’s 42-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 6-3.

On the first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, Evangel’s Tyreek Robinson took a direct snap and ran the ball in for a 17-yard touchdown.

Mason Wilson answered back for Shaw with a 10-yard rushing touchdown to cut the lead to 13-10 with 8:11 remaining in the second quarter.

The score remained the same until the second half.

After running the ball heavily, Shaw saw that Evangel had no safeties up top on a possession deep in their own territory. That set up the big pass play. Wilson hit Caleb Williams in the seam for an 82-yard touchdown to give Shaw their first lead of the game.

The fourth quarter was all Shaw and taking time off the clock. A 4:26 drive by Shaw led to another Zelaya field goal to provide the final margin.

“Got to give props to the other team, real physical game. Really shows an example of Louisiana playoffs,” said Shaw quarterback Mason Wilson. “We were really thankful for the bye, we worked really hard in the early season to get the bye. We really needed that because we had a very, very hard Carencro game and the bye was really for us to heal and really allowed us to watch film and relax. I am very confident in our team and I feel like we have a chance to go all the way and I’m confident next week too.”

“We thought that Evangel was very, very good and obviously we knew we would have to play really good to win. We got behind early and showed a lot of character coming back like we did and our defense had a shutout, which is fantastic against an offense like this,” Shaw’s head coach Hank Tierney. “It’s a team win, it’s not just me. I get credit for it, but I have a great coaching staff and I have great kids, great school and it’s all coming together at the right time for Shaw.”

With the win, Shaw will travel Friday to Pan American Stadium and face No. 4 John F. Kennedy in the Division II Select quarterfinals.

Final
Shaw- 3 7 7 3- 20
Evangel- 6 7 0 0- 13

Notable individual stats
Shaw
Mason Wilson- 4-7 passing for 131 passing yards, 22 carries for 199 rushing yards, with 1 passing touchdown and 1 rushing touchdown
Caleb Williams- 2 receptions for 102 receiving yards, and 1 receiving touchdown
Henry Zelaya- 2-3 fields goals and 3 tackles
Evangel
Peyton Fulghum- 11-25 passing for 127 passing yards, 2 carries for 7 yards and 1 passing touchdown
Parker Fulghum- 3 receptions for 65 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown
Jacob Wilson- 7 tackles and 4 tackle for loss

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