Shipley breaks loose to help Francis Howell remain unbeaten with win over Fort Zumwalt West

O’FALLON, Mo. — Francis Howell junior quarterback Adam Shipley kept a low profile throughout the early part of this football season.

The new leader of a star-studded offense, Shipley patiently handed the ball off and threw short passes to his stable of weapons as the Vikings rolled to one win after another.

“He was kind of quiet there for the first three games,” Howell coach Brent Chojnacki said.

Those days in the background are officially over for the 5-foot-11-inch signal caller.

Shipley threw for 306 yards and five touchdowns on Saturday to guide Howell to a 56-21 win over Fort Zumwalt West in a GAC South contest at West.

The Vikings (6-0, 3-0) have outscored their opponents 275-89. They are off to their best start since the 2015 team captured its first 10 games.

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And the vastly-improving Shipley has played a key role in the quick start.

“He’s new this year and he’s done a great job of stepping up,” said Howell junior wide out Jude James, who caught the first TD pass of the game. “He’s keeping the offense going.”

Shipley attempted just 33 passes over the first four games and never threw for more than 167 yards in a single contest.

But Chojnacki decide to cut Shipley loose against Troy on Sept. 23. Shipley responded by hitting 12-for-19 passes for 155 yards and one score.

That solid effort set the stage for Saturday’s coming out party.

“All of these guys can make plays and that makes it easy for me,” Shipley said. “We worked on our chemistry in the off-season and that’s helped a lot.”

Shipley entered the contest against West (2-4, 1-2) with eight touchdowns and 601 yards over his previous five starts.

Those numbers skyrocketed after he picked apart the Jaguars defense for seven first-half touchdowns.

With Shipley leading the way, Howell rolled out to a 49-14 lead by half. Shipley and several other regulars did not play a down during the second half, which was played with a running clock.

Chojnacki is pleased with the way Shipley has grown and matured as the season has gone along.

“He’s a special player that can deliver the ball to the weapons that we have on the outside,” Chojnacki said. “We’re going to continue to use our passing game to our advantage.”

James and senior tight end Brett Norfleet were the weapons of choice on Saturday, Norfleet caught four passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns. James helped set the attack in motion by hauling back-to-back passes of 36 and 24 yards on the Vikings’ opening possession.

Howell took control early in the second quarter and never let the foot off the gas.

Shipley connected with Norfleet on a 32-yard pass to set the up the second touchdown. Brady Hultman muscled in from 3 yards out to give the visitors a 14-0 lead after just six minutes and 53 seconds.

West answered with a 13 play, 80-yard drive that culminated on a 1-yard run from Mike Ludwig.

The Jaguars recorded a stop and got the ball back with a chance to tie before Howell defensive back Cameron Cason picked off a pass to quell the drive.

Shipley hit Norfleet on a 26-yard TD pass on the very next play to push the lead to 21-7.

The Vikings then scored three touchdowns in the final 7:11 of the half to regain command.

Shipley ran in from 9 yards out for a 28-14 cushion. He then hit Jaylen Pearson on a 56-yard TD toss.

The Vikings capped off a near-perfect first half when Shipley connected with Garrett Puckett on a 10-yard scoring strike on the last play of the second quarter. That touchdown was set up by a 27-yard connection between Shipley and Taj Gurley.

West was able to move the ball at times, but simply could not shut down the Howell offense, which is averaging 46 points per game.

“We knew if we had a chance against them we would have to take care of the football,” West coach Ben Pike said. “Offensively, they’re a hard matchup for anybody.”

Shipley has the Vikings clicking on all cylinders. They scored on seven of eight first half possessions in one of their best offensive performances of the season.

“We’re always excited when we win,” Chojnacki said. “But there are still plenty of things we can work on and learn from this game. If can clean up the small things, we’ll be in a position to do something special.”

Francis Howell 56, Fort Zumwalt West 21 Francis Howell at Fort Zumwalt West Football

Fort Zumwalt West’s Kyle Nunn (2) is tackled by Francis Howell’s Evan Piwowarski (13), Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, at Fort Zumwalt West High School in O’Fallon, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com