By DREW DENNIS/For the Reporter

COLUMBIANA — Shelby County came up short in their comeback attempt Oct. 11, falling to Talladega 42-35.

Talladega jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on Kendarius Wells’ 13-yard quarterback keeper.  Shelby County put together a couple good drives in the first but stalled out at the 29-yard line and missed on a 24-yard field goal attempt.

Talladega got great field position after an interception off of a deflected Ty Proctor throw.  Talladega started from the Shelby County 29 yard line and scored on a 29 yard touchdown pass from Kendarius Wells to Richard Williams giving the Tigers a 14-0 lead.

Shelby County answered on their next possession putting together a five play 1:45 drive capped off by Proctor’s 3-yard touchdown run.  The PAT was good, cutting the Tigers lead to 14-7.  Shelby County was unable to take advantage of a fumble by Talladega and was forced to punt the ball to the Tigers with 3:25 left in the half.

Talladega took the ball 64 yards in 2:39 seconds scoring on a 13 yard touchdown pass from Wells to Marius Echols giving the Tigers a 21-7 lead with 46 seconds left in the half.  Shelby County started its drive with 37 seconds left on the clock and answered with a touchdown on Proctor’s 15-yard pass.  The PAT was no good, making the score 21-13 going into the half.

Shelby County was unable to put anything together with its first drive of the second half and was forced to punt.  A bad snap resulted in Talladega taking it in for the touchdown and going up 28-13 with 11:01 left in the third quarter.  Shelby County’s next drive made it all the way to a first and goal on the Tigers’ 5-yard line.  Talladega’s defense came up big and stayed strong for the goal line stand and the turnover on downs.

Talladega extended its lead to 35-13 on Kendarius Wells 84-yard touchdown strike to Marius Echols.  Shelby County answered with a long 61-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was good, cutting the lead to 14 at 35-21.

Shelby County’s defense stepped up to the challenge, forcing Talladega to punt and got the ball back with 2:17 left in the third quarter.  Marterius McGregor then broke another long run for the Wildcats, cutting the lead to eight after a 48-yard touchdown run to make it 35-27 Talladega.

Talladega pinned Shelby County deep inside its own territory at the 1-yard line after a strong punt by Jack Bailey.  Talladega’s defense answered the call forcing a fumble by Proctor and recovering it in the endzone for a touchdown making the score 42-27.  Shelby County put together an eight-play drive scoring with 6:14 left in the game and cut the deficit to 7 after a successful two point conversion play.

Shelby County’s offense was unable to put together a final drive to force overtime, while Talladega made sure the Wildcats didn’t get their hands on the ball again giving them the victory 42-35 after a thriller in Columbiana.