Torrion Mathis blows by a Coffee County defender along as he picks up a first down in the second half against the Red Raiders on Thursday night. He finished with 266 yards and two touchdowns in the Golden Eagles’ win on Senior Night. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
Cy’onn Rucker comes up with a pass break up in the defensive secondary to help halt a Coffee County drive. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
SHELBYVILLE — Shelbyville Central has built a brand of smashmouth football, leaning on the talents of a dangerous backfield, spearheaded by senior Robert Bailey.
While Bailey didn’t suit up for the regular season finale against Coffee County, the Golden Eagle ground game was still just as effective, with Torrion Mathis leading the way to a 28-14 Shelbyville Central win at the Eagles’ Nest.
“The fact we can continue to run the ball the way we do says a lot about our offensive line, even when it’s not Robert (Bailey) in the backfield,” Golden Eagle coach Jud Dryden said.
Mathis totaled 266 yards on 21 touches and found the end zone twice.
Junior quarterback Stephen Bobo added to the two-pronged attack out of the backfield and totaled 125 yards on 15 carries as well.
Early on though, Shelbyville (5-5, 4-2) struggled to get off the field on third down and allowed Coffee County (2-8, 1-5) to organize its first scoring drive after forcing a Golden Eagle punt with 10:38 to go in the first quarter.
The punt by Bobo pinned the Red Raiders on their own six-yard line, but on the ensuing drive, Coffee County was able to twice convert on third and long before Jett Trussler broke loose on a 27-yard touchdown to take the early lead with 5:10 to go in the opening quarter.
Shelbyville answered
Stephen Bobo strolls into the end zone untouched with 45 seconds left in the first quarter. He totaled 125 yards on 15 carries. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
in short order, leaning on the effective ground attack.
After taking possession on its own 18-yard line, Shelbyville moved into the red zone before Bobo peeled left and strolled untouched into the end zone, but the kick after missed wide left, leaving the score at 7-6.
Coffee County later padded its lead on a 20-yard run from Matthew White with just over five minutes left in the half, giving the Red Raiders a 14-6 advantage.
“We came out slow and made a few mistakes. Coffee County took advantage and kept themselves in the ball game. We were able to settle in at halftime. It’s just a testament to these guys constantly trying to get better,” Dryden said.
But from that point, Shelbyville took over and completely dominated Coffee County, scoring 22 unanswered points to close the game with the two-touchdown victory.
After being held scoreless through the bulk of the first half, Mathis finally found paydirt with 2:12 left in the second quarter on a six-yard strike and successfully tacked on the two-point conversion attempt to tie the game at 14 by halftime.
While Coffee County was able to effectively move the chains and keep drives alive with third-down conversions through much of the first half, the Golden Eagles were able to get to the correct alignments and the rest is history.
“It wasn’t as much of adjustments, we were just mis-aligned through the first half quite a bit. We were finally able to get them sat down and showed them all at the same time here was the changes we needed to make,” Dryden said.
Although both teams were held scoreless in the third, Mathis found the end zone with 6:30 left in the game on a nine-yard run and then tacked on the two-point conversion to give Shelbyville the 20-14 lead.
With the Shelbyville defense dominating up front and pressuring Red Raider quarterback Kaysen Lowery, the Golden Eagles were able to shut down Coffee County’s attack.
With the game in hand, Shelbyville tacked on one insurance score, this time with Treyvion Mathis putting a cap on the drive.
He scored from three yards out, but a penalty negated a successful two-point conversion.
“He (Torrion Mathis) is so good and his cousin Treyvion is going to be a good one, too,” Dryden added.
Treyvion added 58 yards on eight carries as well.
On the second attempt, Coffee County came up with the stop, leaving the score at 28-14.
With the regular season in the books, Shelbyville Central now turns its attention to the first-round of the Class 6A playoffs.
On Friday night, Shelbyville Central will travel to Antioch to take on the No. 2 seeded Bears from Region 5-6A.
Antioch enters the playoffs with a 9-1 overall record, with the only loss coming in a 25-14 decision to Clarksville.
For the Golden Eagles, Dryden says his team’s morale and momentum are both right where he wants them to be.
“The morale is good. We feel like we can compete going into these first couple of rounds for sure. If we get a little momentum, who knows. We’ll see what happens,” Dryden said.
Kickoff in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs is set for Friday night at 7 p.m.
Coffee Co. 7 7 0 0 — 14
Shelbyville 6 8 0 14 — 28
First Quarter
CC — Jett Trussler 27 run, (Trey Caron kick), 5:10.
SC — Stephen Bobo 13 run, (kick failed), :45.
Second Quarter
CC — Matthew White 20 run, (Caron kick), 5:04.
SC — Torrion Mathis 6 run, (Mathis 2pt. run), 2:12.
Fourth Quarter
SC — Mathis 9 run, (Mathis 2pt. run), 6:30.
SC — Treyvion Mathis 3 run, (2pt. pass failed), 3:19.