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Watch: GIFs game recap of Conwell-Egan’s win over West Catholic

The Eagles held off the Burrs, 21-13, the same way they have vanquished teams all season, with a balanced attack from key contributors on both sides of the ball.

Patrick Garwo led Conwell-Egan's offense with 78 yards and a late score on 20 hard-earned carries.
Patrick Garwo led Conwell-Egan's offense with 78 yards and a late score on 20 hard-earned carries.Read moreDAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer

A dance party broke out near midfield Friday night at Truman after Conwell-Egan simultaneously stayed undefeated, avenged a 2017 loss, took control of the Catholic League Blue division and moved closer to ending a nearly 50-year drought.

The Eagles held off visiting West Catholic, 21-13, the same way they have vanquished teams all season, with a balanced attack from key contributors on both sides of the ball.

Last year, the Burrs routed the Eagles, 38-0, at Drexel's Vidas Athletic Complex, where the Burrs play some home games.

Now, the Eagles (8-0, 5-0) can win a Catholic League football championship for the first time since 1970, when head coach Jack Techtmann was a junior for then-Bishop Egan High.

A win next week at Bishop McDevitt clinches the crown.

Patrick Garwo, a senior Boston College recruit, led Friday's offense with 78 yards and a late score on 20 hard-earned carries. As a safety, Garwo also added a key interception.

Sophomore Dajuan Harris also soared on both sides of the ball. Harris, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound fullback and linebacker, scored the Eagles first touchdown, a 55-yard reception from senior quarterback Alex Goldsby with 9 minutes, 15 seconds left in the first quarter.

"They beat us bad," Harris said of last season's loss. "This was just on our calendar all year, saying 'This is the game.' "

Harris also added a key sack with 1:37 left in the fourth quarter that resulted in an intentional-grounding penalty during the Burrs' penultimate drive.

The Eagles' defensive unit, despite key injuries to several starters during the game, limited the Burrs' offense, which had averaged 31.5 points in league play, to just two scores.

"It just says that we're just one" team, said Harris, who finished with 91 yards and a score on two catches. "We're just a whole. … We don't just [rely on] superstars. We just play as a team."

Junior running back Zahir Booker led the Burrs (6-2, 4-1) with 98 yards and two scores on 11 carries. His 77-yard burst with 4:50 left in the half immediately followed a fumble he forced as a defensive back.

Booker's second touchdown, a 4-yard slog through defenders, with 7:02 left in the game, could have helped tie the score. A Conwell-Egan penalty on the point-after kick attempt, however, inched the Burrs closer. They tried a Booker run up the middle that failed when the play was blown dead after his helmet came off in a scrum around the 2-yard line.

The Burrs later conceded Garwo's score from two yards out to set up up their final drive, trailing, 21-13.

After seven plays and 57 yards, the Burrs' last hope ended at the Eagles' 25-yard line when Garwo knocked down the final pass from Zaire Hart-Hawkins (14-of-30 passing, 169 yards) and elicited an eruption from the Conwell-Egan faithful.

Conwell-Egan      7    0    7     7  — 21

West Catholic      0    7    0    6  —  13

CE: Dajuan Harris 55 catch from Alex Goldsby. Luke Jackson kick

WC: Zahir Booker 77 run. Natan Fantahun kick

CE: Goldsby 4 run. Jackson kick

WC: Booker 4 run. Run failed

CE: Patrick Garwo 3 run. Jackson kick