Another PCM Dome run extra special for Shannon family

Senior Harlan Shannon and freshman Hayden Shannon were ball boys the last time the PCM football team played in the UNI-Dome.

It might have been a perk of having a Dad on the Mustang coaching staff.

But it definitely made the Shannon brothers dream big when they were old enough to play on the high school team.

“Watching them that year made both of us want to be a part of it ourselves, and we are finally here,” said Hayden Shannon, who starts on PCM’s offensive line as a freshman. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time. We’ve always talked about winning a state title together and playing in the Dome. As long as I can remember, it usually gets brought up in some way no matter what we’re talking about.”

The time is now for the Shannons. Jeff Shannon has been the offensive line coach for the Mustangs since head coach Greg Bonnett took over the program in 2011.

He was part of the staff that hoisted the Class 2A state championship trophy in 2018. And helped guide the Mustangs back to the UNI-Dome in 2020.

But this season will be tough for Jeff Shannon to top. He gets to coach an undefeated PCM squad which features both of his sons.

Senior Harlan Shannon is the starting tight end for the Mustangs. He’s part of a group of seven players who are largely responsible for PCM’s strong rushing attack.

Jeff Shannon’s offensive line group features Hayden Shannon as well as seniors Trenner Van Dyke, Kaden Clark and Tate Birkenholtz and junior Braedyn Lester. Junior Keegan Fenton starts at fullback.

That group has helped senior Adrien Robbins rush for more than 1,900 yards in 11 games this fall.

PCM’s 75 offensive touchdowns leads 2A by 13 over third-ranked Spirit Lake, which happens to be the Mustangs’ semifinal opponent on Saturday.

“I’ve had a lot of really good lines here. I’ve been blessed,” Coach Shannon said. “But I’m pretty comfortable in saying this is the best one.”

The 2A No. 2 Mustangs lead 2A with 4,664 offensive yards and their 3,011 rushing yards rank second. But PCM has 24 less attempts than state-leader West Burlington.

PCM’s 7.5 yards per carry also ranks second to West Burlington, and Robbins is second in 2A with 1,902 rushing yards.

The offensive line showed its worth and maybe gave its best performance in the quarterfinals against Mid-Prairie.

The Mustangs rushed for 360 yards in the victory and backup tailback Shay Burns ran for a career-best 209 yards, most of which came in the second half after Robbins went down with an injury.

“These guys are really smart. They can make adjustments and there’s not a lot of questions being asked in practice,” Coach Shannon said. “They just get after it every day. If you give them a different front, it might take a possession or two to figure it out, but making adjustments is easy for them. And they are very physical.”

The Shannons are PCM through and through. Jeff Shannon graduated from the school in 1999.

His wife Mandy graduated from PCM in 2001 and is now the principal at Monroe Elementary. She’s been an educator in the district for around two decades.

And behind every busy coach is a wife who takes care of things off the field.

“She’s the best. Somehow she puts up with all of this,” Coach Shannon said. “We’re going to William Penn the next three nights. We aren’t going to get home until 8 p.m. But she’ll have dinner ready for all of us when we get home. And that’s while she’s working from home.”

But that’s only the half of it. Mandy Shannon also makes sure Hayden’s clothes are fresh and clean for the next day’s practice.

“She means a lot to us. She’s supports us and cleans my clothes,” Hayden Shannon said.

Harlan Shannon is getting his first varsity action this season but Mom never missed a junior varsity game either.

“She’s the best supporter. There’s no two ways about,” Harlan Shannon said. “She goes to every one of our games. She hasn’t missed any of my games since I started playing JV. She’s always there.”

Harlan Shannon remembers being a ball boy during PCM’s 2020 run to the UNI-Dome. But the pinnacle of his Dad’s coaching tenure came in 2018 when the Mustangs finished 13-0 and defeated every opponent by at least 21 points.

This year’s version of the Mustangs hope to also finish 13-0. And their closest game so far this season was the 21 points they defeated Des Moines Christian by in the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s been a goal since forever. Especially since 2018 when we figured out something like this was possible,” Harlan Shannon said about someday winning a state title together. “I’ve known these coaches my whole life, which makes it even better and easier to fully understand.”

Jeff Shannon started his coaching career at PCM at the junior high level. He moved up to the high school team when Bonnett took over the program in 2011.

Those two have been great friends ever since. And the coaching staff as a whole has been together for a long time.

“The first time I ever really talked to (Jeff Shannon) he was organizing stuff for youth football,” Bonnett said. “He was real active, had good questions and was very prepared. I asked him then if he wanted to coach offensive line and he’s been with me ever since.

“He’s just a guy I can’t say enough about how much I appreciate him and what he’s done. He’s the matriarch of PCM football. If something’s wrong, he will be the guy to fix it.”

As good as Coach Shannon’s offensive lines have been in the past, not many of them, if any, had a Day 1 freshman starter.

But Hayden earned the respect of his older teammates when he didn’t miss a single summer workout.

“I was hesitant to put him in there right away. I figured he’d work himself into the spot at some point though,” Coach Shannon said. “I’m always hesitant to put a freshman in there.

“He earned respect from the older guys right away. He learned the offense right away. When he put pads on, he got better. Most freshman struggle to learn the physical nature of the game. He was used to it, and it showed up right away.”

Hayden Shannon did not expect to be starting right away. But he knows playing time is not guaranteed and works every day in practice to keep his spot on lock down.

Bonnett said he went from benching 200 pounds at the start the school year to putting up 250 a few months later.

“When you got one like that, he’s ready,” Bonnett said. “You just put him out there.”

This has been the most fun football season for Harlan Shannon. Besides playing real varsity snaps for the first time in his career, he also gets to share the field with his brother and works closely with his father, too.

“We’ve been dreaming of this for years and it’s great to be playing alongside Hayden,” Harlan Shannon said. “And playing for my Dad is great. I think there’s something different about this year obviously.”

Coach Shannon focuses on being Dad away from the field. On the field, it’s been a challenge to watch his kids in a role other than Dad.

“Sharing this with them is awesome. You can’t get any better than that,” Coach Shannon said. “Watching it is harder though. You have to balance watching your kids and watching your unit. I have gotten better with that as the year has gone on.”

While Coach Shannon has been an assistant coach for his alma mater for more than a decade, don’t expect him to leave anytime soon for a head coaching job somewhere else.

That doesn’t appear to be in his future plans.

“I don’t want to be a head coach. I see what (Bonnett) goes through every day,” Coach Shannon said. “He gets pulled in a lot of different directions. The beauty of this staff is we’ve all been here a long time and we know our roles.

“I can spend a third of the year if things go well with my best friends, too. We are all so close here and away from the field. There’s no place I’d rather be.”

The final place Coach Shannon wants to be at the end of the 2024 season is the middle of the UNI-Dome turf, hoisting another state championship. This time, with his two sons in uniform close by.

“This senior class has been state championship or bust since last year,” Coach Shannon said. “I know a lot of the kids are already looking ahead to the (title game), but we were focused on the state title when we got here in June.”

First thing’s first though. Class 2A No. 2 PCM (11-0) faces third-ranked Spirit Lake (10-1) at 10 a.m. on Saturday inside the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. The winner advances to the state championship game and will face either top-ranked West Lyon (11-0) or fourth-ranked Van Meter (10-1) at 10 a.m. on Nov. 22.