Valley View hosts District 1 champion Bishop Shanahan Friday night at 7 in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 4A football state quarterfinal.
The District 2 Class 4A champion Cougars take a 12-1 record into their first home state playoff game. An adjustment in PIAA policy made a home game a possibility for a team’s first state game this season depending on bracket positioning.
Valley View, the 1992 state Class 2A champion, is looking for its first state playoff win since that title.
The Cougars will have to handle a dynamic, dual-threat quarterback to accomplish that feature.
Cooper Jordan has shown different ways to lead his team in the last two weeks. The 5-foot-10, 160-pounder threw for 344 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 40-6 rout of Pottsgrove in the District 1 championship game, then ran for 141 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown, on just 8 carries in last week’s 14-7 win over Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast in the District 1-12 Subregional.
The effort against Bonner-Prendie pushed Jordan, who averages more than 10 yards per carry, past 1,000 yards rushing on the season and beyond 3,000 yards combined rushing and passing.
Bishop Shanahan has outscored its last four opponents, 109-21, behind a defense that held Chichester to minus-13 yards rushing in a district semifinal shutout.
Linebacker Brandon Choi, who has a preferred walk-on offer from Temple, and defensive end DaKendrick Daniels, the son of Phillip Daniels, who played 201 games in the National Football League, lead the defense.
The Eagles are from Downingtown, which is west of Philadelphia.
Connor Hilling, who ran for 4 touchdowns, including 3 in the first half of last week’s 42-7 district championship rout of North Pocono, has 1,361 yards and 23 touchdowns rushing to lead the Cougars.
Colin Skeen plays multiple positions on offense and special teams, producing in each. He averages more than 11 yards on his 37 carries, more than 21 yards on his 10 catches, has hit half of his six pass attempts and has returned four kicks for touchdowns.
Andrew Heid, Jordan Rebar and Dante Randle are the top tacklers. Sean Mackinder leads the team both in receiving and in interceptions with six.
