Shelby County rushing attack overwhelms Lincoln for 57 points

Published 2:38 am Saturday, August 24, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By NIC YOUNG | Special to the Reporter

LINCOLN – The Shelby County Wildcats began their season on a high note with an impressive offensive showing in their match against the Lincoln Golden Bears, securing a 57-10 win on the road at Lincoln High School on Friday, Aug. 23.

The 57-point showing was the most single-game points of the Zeb Ellison era and the highest since Week 11 of 2019, and it came by way of a massive showing on the ground.

“Anytime you start off with a win, you get a little bit more confidence about yourself and practice a little harder and listen a little harder,” Shelby County coach Zeb Ellison said. “The more success we have, the more they believe, and the more they’ll come together and the better we’ll become.”

The Wildcats seized the momentum of this matchup in the game’s opening play when they recovered a muffed kickoff return to set up their first offensive drive on their own 16-yard line.

Running back Devan Alexander brought Shelby County to the 1-yard line off a 15-yard run before quarterback Ryan Sipes punched in the game’s first score off a sneak play to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead 11 seconds into the first quarter.

Lincoln could not generate a response on the ensuing drive, going three-and-out for their drive of the game.

On the opposite end, Shelby County kept its foot on the gas. Beginning at their own 36-yard line, Alexander and Sipes continued to find success through the ground. The duo combined for 69 yards on this drive, capping it off with a 3-yard run by Alexander. A successful two-point conversion made the score 15-0 midway through the first quarter.

Lincoln’s next possession showed promise as the Golden Bears leaned into their rushing attack. With the drive seemingly ending, Catlett found Ellis on a screen pass that went 30 yards to bring the offense further into Wildcat territory before their offense began to stall out around the 10-yard line. That forced them to take a field goal to cut into Shelby County’s lead, 15-3.

The Wildcats followed the same formula they had been using all night and continued to operate their offense off the legs of Alexander and Sipes. Once again, the duo seemingly singlehanded drove from their own 29-yard line all the way to the end zone.

The highlight of this series was a 20-yard run by Sipes to the Lincoln 15-yard line that would set up Alexander to score from 7 yards out a few plays later to add on to the Wildcats’ lead, 22-3 early in the second quarter.

The Wildcats’ defense made quick work of the following Golden Bear drive, forcing them to a three-and-out. Despite the shortcomings on offense, a 56-yard punt by Lincoln appeared to put their defense in prime position to get a much-needed stop.

Shelby County, however, had other plans.

Thanks to the rushing efforts of Alexander, the Wildcat offense made it to midfield within the drive’s first two plays after beginning at their own 16-yard line. Sipes finished off the drive on a 1-yard touchdown run to give Shelby County a comfortable 30-3 lead halfway through the second quarter after successfully converting a 2-point attempt.

The Wildcats defense began to apply pressure on the Lincoln offense on their next drive. In a brief series that lasted four plays, two resulted in sacks by Hunter Brown and Eli Carlisle to force the Golden Bears to surrender possession once again.

Momentum remained with the Wildcats to begin the following possession. Following a punt return by Shelby County’s Mason Hill to put the offense at the Golden Bear 40-yard line, a personal foul against Lincoln propelled the Wildcats further into enemy territory placing them at the 25-yard line.

Shelby County’s offense still focused on the ground game, but this time, the charge was led by quarterback Presley Duke and running back Duncan Tyson. Like the duo of Sipes and Alexander before them, this pair took advantage of the shortened field for a 19-yard Tyson touchdown to bring the game’s score to 37-3 going into halftime.

The Wildcats opened up the second half with a fresh face in the backfield. This drive belonged almost exclusively to wide receiver Anthony Palmieri, who gained 52 yards on eight rushing attempts before finishing the drive off with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to make the game’s score 44-3.

After another three-and-out series by the Golden Bears, it was Alexander and Tyson’s turn to share the workload. The duo powered their way from their own 48-yard line all the way to paydirt to pile on to Shelby County’s 51-3 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats found themselves on the positive end of the turnover battle once again as they recovered Lincoln’s second muffed kickoff of the night.

Starting on their opponent’s 21-yard line, it took Shelby County no time at all to score once again thanks to the efforts of Duke and running back Tyler Young. This drive would put the exclamation on the Wildcats’ night extending their lead 57-3 early in the fourth quarter.

The Golden Bears did not go down with a fight and pieced together a scoring drive late in the fourth quarter to make the game’s final score 57-10.

The ground game was the way to go for Shelby County for this matchup as Alexander finished the day with 156 rushing yards and two touchdowns off 16 carries. Sipes contributed 82 yards on the ground along with a pair of rushing touchdowns.

Duke, Palmieri and Duncan each added touchdowns as the Wildcats finished the game with 396 yards of total offense, all of which were rushing yards.

Ellison said the reason why they went exclusively for the run was simply because it was working well. He gave credit to his running backs and offensive line said that they would need to keep playing like that in order to sustain this success.

“Our thinking is, ‘If they’re not stopping it, why do anything else?’” Ellison said. “There’s no reason to throw the football if you’re running the football for six or seven yards in a pop, so don’t try to fix it if it’s not broke.”

After a difficult offseason that saw Shelby County undergo many cultural and roster changes, Ellison is proud of how his team overcame adversity, and he hopes this is just the start of their growth.

“Just extremely proud of the guys that stuck it out,” Ellison said. “Offseason was extremely tough and the guys that are still here did a great job and just need to continue to grow.”

Next week, the Wildcats will take on the Holtville Bulldogs on Friday, Aug. 30 in their home opener at Shelby County High School.

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