O'Hara Senior Fueled for Big Year

His demeanor changed with the time. The transition was subtle, gradual. Like a great iron ball with a white bandanna working its way down a steep hill, slow at first and then rampaging and uncontrollable.

That’s how Aug. 20 went for star Damiere Shaw. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Temple University-bound senior offensive/defensive back transformed progressively went from a jovial teammate, to an anxious foot-hopping player who hadn’t been on a field in close to a year to an unstoppable force that ripped through perennial Philadelphia Public League power George Washington’s defense in a scrimmage.

Shaw wore a craggy facial scowl as scrimmage time approached, something few picked up on. What was lost is that Shaw missed O’Hara’s final four games last season, including two against statewide powerhouse Archbishop Wood.

As scrimmage time neared, Shaw changed. No more picture-taking. No more talking. No more anything.

Shaw was ready to explode. Which is exactly what he did.

He took a pitch and plowed right through Washington’s defense down the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown to unofficially kickoff O’Hara’s season in its first scrimmage. He was a red blur—and it came on Shaw’s first touch in about 10 months.

Shaw suffered a season-ending concussion in O’Hara’s 16-6 victory over Monsignor Bonner Oct. 16. Since then, he has been inching and twisting inside to get back on the field.

“I needed that,” Shaw said after his amazing performance in the scrimmage against Washington. “I’ve been working toward my senior year since December. There’s been a lot built up inside for this season. After what happened last year, I feel like I owe it to O’Hara, to my teammates, that I have to be on the field. I owe them something I should have given them last year. I should have been on that field against Wood. I wanted to be out there.”

So much so, he tried hiding the concussion he received in the Oct. 16 Bonner game. Shaw said he knew he was concussed immediately after the hit. But he wasn’t about to say anything to anyone.

“I couldn’t, my coaches would have taken me out,” Shaw recalled. “But if someone wants to question how tough I am, I stayed in that Bonner game when I could have come out. I think that answers a lot of questions about my toughness and durability.

“I also think the Wood game in the [Catholic League Class AAA] championship would have been a lot different, too, if I was playing. I’m not saying we would have won that game, but I would have helped my team if I was out there. It would have been a competitive game, a lot closer than 24-7.”

But there is the lingering threat of a second concussion; studies have shown second concussions come much easier after an initial concussion.

“I do think about it sometimes, but I never carry that on to the field,” Shaw said. “You can’t play with fear, or you will get hurt.”

One thing Damiere Shaw never has been is afraid. It comes from being the youngest of 11. Shaw grew up in an athletic household. Older brother Dennis was a star at West Catholic and his closest older sibling, Dion, was a star at Ridley High School last year.

Damiere often took the brunt of what his brothers meted out, “Oh yeah, I took my share of whoopings,” Damiere said, laughing. “When I was younger, Dennis was the one I looked up to and Dion and me drive each other. We push each other to be better and I think it’s where I get my competitive edge.”

With the exception of his brothers, Shaw doesn’t feel he has to prove anything to anyone. He made a commitment over the summer to Temple, where he’s projected to play defensive back, probably cornerback. He has his focus set on this season and a year-end clash with Wood.

“That’s it, basically get the championship before I graduate,” Shaw said. “It’s something me and everyone on this team is striving for. Wood is a very good team, but we’re not going into this season focusing solely on Wood. We have to get through Bonner, [Archbishop] Carroll; they’re also good teams.

“We know there is one team out there in Wood that’s getting all of the hype. We’ll see what happens. No one is giving us a chance to beat Wood. But as a captain on this team, I’ll have something to say about that. We all will. The way I see it, I was robbed of my junior year. I don’t think anyone has seen me at my best yet.”