Shelbyville Central junior running back Robert breaks a tackle on the way to the end zone in a matchup with Marshall County Thursday night. He rushed for 243 yards on 20 carries with three TD’s in the game. (Post Photo by Gary Johnson)
By GARY JOHNSON
Sports Writer
SHELBYVILLE — When Shelbyville Central and Marshall County square off on the football field one thing is certain, it’s going to be an explosive, exciting game with more times than not a lot of points on the scoreboard.
Such was this case time around time as well as the teams scored a combined 82 points and racked up a combined 896 yards in Marshall County’s 47-35 road win over the Golden Eagles on Thursday evening.
The Tigers (2-0) collected 464 yards of total offense followed by Shelbyville Central (1-1) with 432 yards.
Golden Eagle junior running back Robert Bailey turned in another stellar performance with his second 200-plus yard rushing effort to start the season, gaining 243 yards on 20 touches with three touchdowns.
Marshall County quarterback Tyler Thompson was just as impressive, completing 14-of-25 passes for 339 yards with five
Sophomore quarterback Steven Bobo scored on a 77-yard run and threw for another in the Golden Eagles shootout with Marshall County. (Post Photo by Gary Johnson)
touchdowns and one interception.
He also added a rushing TD.
The difference in the game was Marshall County made a few more plays and a few less mistakes.
“We just made too many mistakes throughout the game and that’s on us,” Shelbyville Central coach Jud Dryden said.
“Marshall County is a good ball club and they executed well when they had to. We gave away some things we don’t normally give away. We will go to the film and look at fixing them.”
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter, a 5-yard pass to Anthony Smith followed by a 65-yard completion to Aja Jones.
Hendrix was good on both extra-point kicks for the 14-0 lead.
“Not the start we wanted but there again, I think we extended that first scoring drive with a costly penalty and good teams find ways to take advantage of those,” Dryden said.
The Golden Eagles got on the board with an 80-yard drive with Bailey being the workhouse.
He had four carries for 61 yards including a six yard TD run.
Ben Betzelberger connected on his first of four extra-points to cut the lead in half.
D. J. Gardner put the Tigers on the board again with a 5-yard TD and the point after was good for the 21-7 advantage,
William Bobo hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass from his younger brother Steven Bobo to put the Golden Eagles back within seven points.
Labron Ransom came up with a big defensive play when he intercepted a pass late in the first half.
Shelbyville Central failed to take advantage of the scoring opportunity and even the score going into halftime.
“We had a great chance to score after the interception but a costly penalty set back and we couldn’t overcome it,” Dryden said.
“If we score there then get the ball to start the second half and score, who knows how that might have changed the game,” Dryden said.
Shelbyville Central scored on a Bailey 56-yard run, then Steven Bobo raced 77 yards to the end zone and all of a sudden the Golden Eagles were up 28-21.
Marshall County responded with a 70-yard pass from Thompson to Jones to even the score at 28-28 going into the fourth quarter.
The Tigers outscored Shelbyville Central 19-7 in the fourth quarter off TD passes to Kel Hightower and Jamahl Gentry along with a TD run by Thompson.
Bailey scored on a three yard for the Golden Eagles.
Steven Bobo completed 9-of-15 passes totaling 68 yards with one interception.
Shelbyville Central travels to Coffee County on Friday night at 7.
Marshall Co. 14 7 7 19 — 47
Shelbyville Central 0 14 14 7 — 35
First Quarter
MC — Anthony Smith 5 pass from Tyler Thompson (Hendrix Kaipio kick), 7:58.
MC — Aja Jones 65 pass from Thompson, (Kaipio kick), :22.
Second Quarter
SC — Robert Bailey 5 run, (Ben Betzelberger kick), 9:17.
MC — D.J. Gardner Jr. 5 run, (Kaipio kick), 5:25.
SC — William Bobo 18 pass from Stephen Bobo, (Betzelberger kick), 3:46.
Third Quarter
SC — Bailey 56 run, (Betzelberger kick), 9:50.
SC — S. Bobo 77 run, (Betzelberger kick), 7:50.
MC — Jones 70 pass from Thompson, (Kaipio kick), 7:08.
Fourth Quarter
MC — Kel Hightower 8 pass from Thompson, (Kaipio kick), 11:53.
SC — Bailey 3 run, (Betzelberger kick), 5:21.
MC — Jamahl Gentry 50 pass from Thompson, (Kick failed), 4:25.
MC — Thompson 6 run, (2pt. run failed), 1:19.
