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By SCOTT MIMS / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA — Shelby County lost the final of a three-game home stand to Marbury on Thursday night, Oct. 8 in a high-stakes matchup that would have meant a playoff spot for the Wildcats.

Shelby County scored one touchdown per quarter, but it was not enough to catch up with the Bulldogs in a 42-27 game that saw turnovers and penalties on both sides of the ball.

“We turned the ball over too much tonight, we had too many penalties; we just didn’t play very well on offense and at the end of the day we came up short,” Shelby County coach Heath Childers said. “We just have to do a better job. We’re off next week, and we just have to do a better job preparing the team and playing football.”

Tyrese Goodman scored on a 40-yard run in the first quarter for the Wildcats, and again in the second on a huge 62-yard reception. The Bulldogs, however, doubled those points for a 28-14 lead at halftime.

Shelby County’s defense recovered a Marbury fumble late in the third, setting up a 12-yard touchdown run courtesy of Jordahn Garcia. That brought the Wildcats within a touchdown of tying Marbury but it wouldn’t last for long. Marbury’s Ethan Gomez ran a short touchdown to extend the lead to 35-21.

Next drive, Connor Aderholt completed a 13-yard pass to Jacob Fox and another to Isaac Montgomery to put the Wildcats at their opponents’ 8-yard line. This paved the way for a 6-yard touchdown run, again by Garcia, but the kick was no good putting the score at 35-27.

The Bulldogs recovered a Shelby County fumble with just 2:36 left in the game but went three-and-out. Shelby County was called for running into the kicker, but the penalty was declined and the Wildcats took over on their own 6-yard line.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Marbury picked up a fumble and ran it in for a touchdown, resulting in the final score of 42-27. With just six seconds left, Montgomery returned the final kickoff all the way to the 30 but there was no time left on the clock.

Shelby County has a bye next week before facing Jemison on the road Oct. 23.