Cardinal O'Hara Senior Ready for Return to Field

Damiere Shaw has been waiting, and waiting, and waiting. The standout running back/defensive back found himself waiting again last Saturday, when he was unable to play in the Lions’ season opener against Archbishop Ryan due to a sinus infection. The last time Shaw played came last October—almost a year ago, when he suffered a concussion against archrival Monsignor Bonner and missed the ’s last four games.

Last Saturday, the team came back to score two touchdowns in the final three minutes to beat Ryan, 24-21. They did it without Shaw, their Temple-committed star whose closest brush with the field came during the coin toss.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Shaw is ready to play for the first time in 11 months this Saturday when Haverford School visits in the game of the week at O’Hara at 11 a.m.

“I’m fired up and I can’t wait,” Shaw said. “I haven’t been this anxious for anything in my life. I’ve never waited this long to play organized football. It’s going to be close to a year and I even got up six o’clock Monday morning, Labor Day. There was no sleeping for me; I had to text one of the assistant coaches to get some film of Haverford School.

“They’re going to see a fierce competitor. I was waiting to play against Ryan, and the doctors couldn’t clear me because my vision wasn’t good and I had a lot of congestion. I wanted to be out there, that’s the big thing for me. It was terrible for me to watch Saturday. It was almost as bad as the championship game last year when I had to sit and watch. It was like torture. I went out for the coin toss and that made it even worse for me. There’s a charged up player coming on Saturday.”

Shaw will have to wait a little longer to play. The school's website states "Sports teams will practice, at the discretion of their coach, but not compete in games" as part of a modified schedule for opening week due to the current .  Patch confirmed Friday morning that all sports teams' competitions have been cancelled. Check back with Patch for more updates.

Patch Top Seven Week 1     

1. Cardinal O’Hara (1-0) vs. Haverford School

2. Haverford School (1-0) at Cardinal O’Hara

3. Springfield (1-0) at Harriton

4. Conestoga (1-0) at Garnet Valley

5. Episcopal Academy (1-0) at Interboro

6. Haverford High School (0-1) at Ridley

7. Harriton (1-0) vs. Springfield