Robert Bailey rushed for eight touchdowns and over 1,200 yards, highlighted by a 307-yard, three-touchdown night in a win at Summit. (Post File Photo by Chris Siers)
By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
Every year, there’s always incredible sports headlines that dominate the local news. From the hardcourt to the grid iron, to the diamond—our local athletes are always reaching new heights and creating history throughout their scholastic athletic careers. Here’s the first half of list of top headlines from the 2025 calendar year:
County sees massive influx of new coaches
Every year, it never fails that coaches leave schools and new faces become ingrained into the community. This year, there was a massive influx of new coaches.
Kicking off the coaching carousel this season was a pair of new faces at Community High School.
Hired to take over the Viking baseball program was Shelbyville Central graduate Parker Gunn.
“When this position opened, it just happened to be at a school where I had been at for student teaching, I had great ties to the area and they also had a math opening. Honestly, it was like a dream come true,” Gunn said.
Joining Gun
Hunter Farrell
n among the new faces in Unionville is first-year head coach Hunter Ferrell, hired to take over the Viking basketball program.
“It’s been a dream since I graduated high school to give back and have my own team and pour into players like I was poured into by all the coaches I had,” Ferrell said.
Community also welcomed a new coach for the Viking football program and hired Glenn Tidwell to help bring about change within the Purple and Gold football culture.
“These guys have surprised me. They have bought in to what we want to do. They come to the weight room and they come to practice. They have that itch to get better,” Tidwell added.
Across the county at Cascade High School, when the Champion basketball position became available, the administration turned to long-time coach Doug Worsley to helm the program, who spent 11 years at Central Magnet School.
“I coached
Parker Gunn
at Sycamore High School before I came to Murfreesboro. There’s a very similar vibe between Sycamore and Cascade as far as the size and makeup of the school. That kind of gives me an advantage in the sense that I kind of have a feel for that,” Worsley said
“There’s been a lot of great coaches there (at Cascade). I have a lot to live up to.”
*Original reporting by Chris Siers and Rickey Clardy
Golden Eagles make Class 6A playoffs
Don’t call it a surprise appearance for the Shelbyville Central Golden Eagle football program to have made the Class 6A playoffs in the first year since being moved up from Class 5A, because nobody on the roster or coaching staff saw it as such.
Led by a loaded backfield and a ton of skill in the trenches, Shelbyville Central took a workman’s like approach to the schedule and
Doug Worsley
certainly delivered.
Hit with a brutally difficult schedule, the Golden Eagles opened the season with back-to-back losses, but rebounded with region wins over Franklin and Independence, with a notable first-win being clutch in the overall region standings.
In that first win, the Golden Eagles edged out a 15-14 win over the Admirals, before following up with another one-score win over the Independence Eagles in a Week 4 thriller, 31-28.
Shelbyville also came up with another one-score region victory at Summit to defeat the Spartans, 24-17.
After rallying to a 3-3 record following the win at Summit, Shelbyville dropped a non-region loss at Clarksville before falling 45-14 to Ravenwood, who eventually played for a Class 6A state title.
Glenn Tidwell
Shelbyville closed the season with a key region win over Coffee County, beating the Red Raiders 28-14 to officially lock up the No. 3 seed for the Class 6A playoffs.
While the Golden Eagles closed the regular season on a two-game win-streak, Shelbyville ran into a buzzsaw in the first round of the playoffs and fell 42-13 against the Antioch Bears, led by Mr. Football candidate Andre Adams who accounted for five touchdowns in the playoff opener.
Shelbyville Central was led by senior tailback Robert Bailey, who went for 1,227 yards and eight rushing touchdowns.
Bailey opened the season on a tear going over the century mark in each of the first five games, highlighted by a 307-yard and three touchdown night in the key region win at Summit.
* Original reporting by Chris Siers
Stephen Bobo gave his verbal commitment to continue his baseball career at Vanderbilt Univeristy. On the mound last season, Bobo earned a 6-3 record and compiled an ERA of 1.11 over 44.1 innings pitched. He gave up just 30 hits and allowed 17 runs to score, only seven of which were earned. (Post File Photo by Chris Siers)
Golden Eagle standout Stephen Bobo picks Vandy
Standout Shelbyville Central southpaw Stephen Bobo made his verbal commitment earlier this year to continue his baseball career at Vanderbilt University.
“Stephen is a special young man. He is very talented and one heck of an athlete, but what makes him special is his attitude. He is a winner, through and through. He is a great teammate, he loves working on his skill set, and when he steps on the field, he is the fiercest competitor on the field,” Golden Eagle coach Chase Jones said.
During his sophomore season, Bobo made his presence felt on the mound and at the plate.
On the mound last season, Bobo earned a 6-3 record and compiled an ERA of 1.11 over 44.1 innings pitched.
He gave up just 30 hits and allowed 17 runs to score, only seven of which were earned.
He struck out 66 batters and issued just 17 walks.
At the plate, Bobo batted .534 and drove in 36 runs and blasted five home runs.
“He is very deserving of his Vanderbilt offer and commitment, but more importantly, he has absolutely earned it. I am very excited to watch him continue to develop over the next two seasons with us and can’t wait to see what his future holds at Vanderbilt and beyond,” Jones added.
*Original reporting by Chris Siers