September 12, 2009

Story and Photographs by Greg Maupin

PULASKI - .The Shelbyville Golden Eagle football team took their first loss of the season 51-3 Friday night against the 13th ranked Class 4A Giles County. The loss is non-district so the Eagles to continue to remain tied for first with Columbia in the District 8 Class 5A rankings.

In the team's first two opening drives, the two teams looked looked to keep the game close. Giles County drove their opening possession 36 yards on 6 plays, but the Eagle defense came up big on 3rd and 2 with a 74 getting to the Tobias Houston for a three yard loss. The Bobcats were kept out of the endzone and Arnoldo Valdiviezo kicked a 29 yard field goal to put Giles County up 3-0 to start the game.

On Shelbyville's opening drive, the Eagles moved the ball 69 yards on 8 plays. Angel Jarquin kicked a 32 yard field goal to tie the game 3-3 with 4:20 remaining in the 1st quarter. .

Giles County followed by scoring 48 unanswered points. The Bobcats drove 61 yards on 5 plays on their next possession. Tobias Houston was the sole Bobcat responsible for the yardage with a 46 yard pass from Bo Wallace, and 15 yards on the ground including a one yard touchdown run to take a 10-7 lead with 2:00 remaining in the quarter.

Shelbyville's Seth Pigg fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the Bobcats took over at the Eagle 32 yard line. Giles County drove 32 yards on 6 plays to take a 17-3 with :04 seconds left in the quarter. Bo Wallace scored the touchdown for the Bobcats on a 5 yard run.

Julius Smythe ran for one yard on Shelbyville's only play to end the first quarter trailing 17-3. The Eagles took over the start of the second quarter finishing the drive by going 4 and out with Jarquin having to punt the ball.

Giles County scored again on their next possession going 6 plays for 78 yards in just under two minutes. Houston ran 3 yards on the touchdown to give the Bobcats a 24-3 advantage with 8:24 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

Shelbyville's next drive consumed five minutes off the clock taking 10 plays and going 30 yards. The Eagles looked to be making progress down the field, but Trey Stewart was sacked on third down and the Eagles were forced to punt. .

Giles County went 63 yards on 8 plays in their next drive. Quarterback Wallace had three consecutive incomplete passes and the Bobcats were forced to attempt a field goal. The 27 yard field goal by Mitch Byrd is no good. The missed field goal and a second half punt were the only two Bobcat possessions in which they did not score a touchdown.

The Eagles had some time before the half to put some points on the board, but an incomplete pass, a quarterback sack, and a run for no gain kept the Eagles from getting down the field. Shelbyville trailed 24-3 going into the halftime break.

Shelbyville got the ball to start the second half. The Eagles went 4 and out and were forced to punt. Giles County drove the ball back in their biggest drive of the game going 87 yards on 15 plays. Wallace capped the drive with a two yard run for a touchdown for the Bobcats. The extra point is no good and the score remains 30-3 with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter.

The Eagles went 8 plays but only managed 16 yards and were forced to punt once more. Four plays later Giles County scored again with a 25 yard strike from Bo Wallace to Zach Bailey. The Bobcats went up 37-3 after the extra point by Valdiviezo with just :14 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The next three possessions saw both the Eagles and the Bobcats go 4 and out and having to punt the ball. On Giles County's second drive of the fourth quarter, the Bobcats found themselves in the endzone once again. An scoring drive consisting of 8 plays and 65 yards over a three minute period was highlighted by a 52 yard touchdown by De'Quon Nelson with 4:54 remaining in the quarter. Giles County went up 44-3 after the extra point.

Shelbyville fumbled on the kickoff for a second time and turned the ball over to Giles County on the Eagle 34 yard line. Four plays later the Bobcats had scored again. Cameron Ford took the ball 16 yards for the touchdown giving the Bobcats a 51-3 win that would be the final score.

Giles County had 282 yards rushing on 45 carries in the game with nine different rushers getting yardage. Tobias Houston led the Bobcats with 143 yards rushing on 23 carries and two touchdowns. De'Quon Nelson had 6 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown while teammate Cameron Ford had four rushes for 34 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Bo Wallace rushed for 27 yards and two touchdowns on 4 carries. Josh Smith rushed for 26 yards on 2 rushes and Rodney Brown had 3 carries for 15 yards. Senior William Reynolds rushed once for 9 yards while fellow senior Torrell Boykins rushed once for 5 yards. Backup quarterback Colton Belew was the only rusher with negative yardage with -21 yards on one carry.

Shelbyville had 27 carries on the ground for 43 yards. Julius Smythe was the leading rusher for Shelbyville with 37 yards on 11 carries. Will Trice had 4 yards on one carry while teammate Jovan Jackson had -1 yards on 1 carry. Quarterback Luke Faulk rushed on 2 carries for 6 yards while fellow quarterback Tre Stewart had one yard on 7 rushes. Shelby Gashaw had no yards on one carry.

In the air, GIles County was 14 of 21 for 246 yards. Bo Wallace was responsible for the bulk of those stats going 14 of 20 for 246 yards and a touchdown. Backup quarterback Colton Belew was 0 for 1 for no yards.

Leading all rushers for Giles County was Zach Bailey with 8 receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown. Tobias Houston had 99 yards on four receptions. Josh Smith had 1 reception for 6 yards, and teammate Tyler Watson had one reception for 4 yards.

Shelbyville was 10 of 17 in the air for 110 yards. Tre Stewart was 5 of 8 for 60 yards. Luke Faulk was 5 of 9 for 50 yards.

Shaq Thompson was the leading receiver for Shelbyville with 59 yards on 4 receptions. Jovan Jackson had 4 receptions for 34 yards while teammate Julius Smythe had 25 yards on 2 receptions.

Shelbyville was penalized 11 times for 60 yards while Giles County had 8 penalties for 60 yards. The Eagles fumbled twice and lost one of them. The Bobcats fumbled once and recovered the ball.

The Eagles started a three game road trip in Pulaski. That series of road games continues next Friday as Shelbyville travels to Columbia. Both teams are undefeated in District 8 Class 5A. The game can be heard live on WLIJ Radio (AM1580) and streamed live on ShelbyvilleSports.com.