Aiden Bryant runs away from the Shelbyville defense and scores on a 13-yard run to kick off a wild fourth quarter on Friday night. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
LEWISBURG — What started as a slow grind, possession-style game spiraled into a full-blown shootout in the final quarter between the Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (0-2) and Marshall County Tigers.
While the Golden Eagles took a 21-17 lead with less than four minutes left, the Tigers (1-1) scored 13 unanswered points in the final minutes to notch the first win of the year.
“We’ve got a good bunch of kids. Our team is different than last year and we’re still trying to figure out what some of that is. We had a sick taste in our mouth after last week. It’s just a weird game and we could have started pointing fingers after not playing well last week,” Tiger coach Thomas Osteen said.
There certainly were no fingers pointed on Friday following the Week 1 heartbreaking loss at Lincoln County, even when the Tigers trailed at two key points in the game.
The Golden Eagles held leads of 13-10 and 21-17, but each time the Tigers rose to the occasion to find an answer.
After Shelbyville orchestrated extended drives throughout the game, the go-ahead drive came on a four-minute drive that culminated with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Shelbyville quarterback Stephen Bobo to Jackson Themm.
The pair connected again on a two-point conversion on a jump pass to give Shelbyville a four-point lead with 3:43 to go.
Enter Tyler Thompson.
The Tiger quarterback was simply masterful in his answer, going 3-for-3 for 44 yards through the air before finally punching it into the end zone on a two-yard dive to give the Tigers a 24-21 lead with 43 seconds left.
On the following possession, Shelbyville was prompted to move the ball through the air, rather than lean on standout tailback Robert Bailey and on first down from the 47-yard line, Marshall County linebacker Elijah Cable picked off Bobo on a 56-yard pick six to seal the deal with nine seconds left.
“He (Cable) is as good of a linebacker as there is in our area. He had that highlight reel play there at the end that he’ll remember forever, but even m
Quarterback Tyler Thompson scrambles for a pickup against Shelbyville Central on Friday night. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
ore so just constantly thudding the box and making big plays down there in the trenches,” Osteen said.
While the fourth quarter debuted plenty of fireworks for both squads, much of regulation was a possession-type game, with long sustained drives.
Marshall County took the game’s opening drive 77 yards, aided by Golden Eagle penalties, before Thompson hit Kel Hightower on a 43-yard dime to the corner of the end zone for the first score of the game.
In the second quarter, Shelbyville milked over six minutes off the clock on a 13-play drive that culminated with a touchdown pass from Bobo to Xzayvier Jordan that went for 18 yards on fourth and nine.
The Tigers later took the lead on a 25-yard field goal from Rodner Rogel and that score held until the second half.
Shelbyville opened the third period with its best drive of the night, again relying on some fourth-down magic.
Bailey came through with a huge 18-yard pickup on fourth down before Bobo scrambled on fourth down from the nine to score the go-ahead touchdown with 4:37 left in the quarter.
The tide appeared to shift in favor of the Golden Eagles with a turnover on downs with 2:35 left in the third.
Two plays later, Marshall County snatched the momentum back when Davion Stanley picked off Bobo with just under two minutes left in the quarter.
But for the second time in as many series, the Golden Eagle defense rose to the occasion and forced a punt with 53 secon
Kel Hightower slips past the Golden Eagle defense and hauls in a 43-yard strike from quarterback Tyler Thompson. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
ds left in the third.
From there, Bailey got the call and seemingly had the Eagles rolling, but on the first play in the fourth, coughed the ball up, which was recovered by Cable on the 37.
Eight plays later, Aiden Bryant found a crease on a cutback and rolled 13 yards to the end zone for the score.
While Thompson went 13-for-21 for 151 yards with a touchdown and an interception, the Tiger backfield featured the tandem of Bryant and Tot Gardner.
Bryant got the lion’s share of carries on Friday, going for 108 yards on 17 touches with a score, while Gardner had 23 yards on six touches.
“For whatever reason, last week, the game was so weird, we had so few plays that we didn’t really get to feature that last week. Tonight was a much bigger example of Tot and Aiden complementing each other. Aiden had a hot hand tonight and we’re going to need both of those guys all year if we’re going to be good.” Osteen said.
The Tiger defense had its hands full trying to slowdown Bailey, who went for over 150 yards a week ago against Tullahoma.
“Shelbyville is a great team. Shelbyville is a great team and has a top two or three running back in the state. So proud we fought them all night. So many times the game was on the line and we just made more plays than they did,” Osteen said.
In total, the Tigers were fairly balanced on offense, piling up 137 yards on the ground in addition to 151 through the air to finish with 288 total yards.
The Tigers return to Preston Hopkins on Friday to host Westview at 7 p.m.
Shelbyville Central 0 7 6 8 — 21
Marshall County 7 3 0 20 — 30
First Quarter
MC — Kel Hightower 43 pass from Tyler Thompson (Rodner Rogel kick), 8:09.
Second Quarter
SC — Xzayvier Jordan 18 pass from Stephen Bobo (Jackson Themm kick), 5:49.
MC — Rogel 25-yard field goal, 2:45.
Third Quarter
SC — Stephen Bobo 9 run, (2pt. run failed), 4:37.
Fourth Quarter
MC — Aiden Bryant 13 run, (Rogel kick), 7:25.
SC — Themm 7 pass from Bobo, (Themm 2pt. pass from Bobo), 3:43.
MC — Thompson 2 run, (Rogel kick), :43.
MC — Elijah Cable 56 interception return, (2pt. run failed), :09.