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The Shelby County Wildcats saw their season end at the hands of Citronelle in a defensive battle, but coach Zeb Ellison and the team remained proud of their work in turning the program around. (For the Reporter/Kelsea Schafer)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – As Shelby County coach Zeb Ellison looked on at his players singing the alma mater following their first-round loss to the Citronelle Wildcats, emotions ran high.

A season ago, Shelby County met an unceremonious end to its campaign with a 65-19 loss to Eufaula on the road. But while the 2024 season also ended in the first round, the circumstances and atmosphere couldn’t have been more different.

Shelby County engaged in a defensive duel with Citronelle in front of a raucous home crowd at Papa McCombs Stadium on Nov. 8, with Ellison’s squad falling short 14-9, completing a turnaround from 2-9 a year ago to finish 8-3 in 2024.

So understandably, emotions flowed freely when the clock hit zero. But one emotion dominated: pride.

“Kids played their tails off. That’s all you can ask,” Ellison said. “They left it out there and we had our chances. That’s playoff football. We knew this game could go either way. They’ve got a very talented football team. We’re on the rise here, and I’m telling you, I’m so happy for these kids and so proud of them. I can’t say enough about them.”

Anthony Palmieri started the game off with a bang with a 39-yard run on the first play of the game. While Shelby County made it down to the opposing 22 from there, Citronelle’s defense stood tall just outside the red zone to force a turnover on downs.

Shelby County’s defense stepped up as well to force a quick punt, but the offense fell victim to the same script in its second drive.

A third down catch by Palmieri followed by a face mask got the ball down to the 13, but that was about as far as Shelby County could get. This time however, the hosts tried a short field goal, but Citronelle blocked it to keep the game scoreless with 3:12 left in the first.

Both teams then saw drives derailed by penalties as a false start on third down killed Citronelle’s drive before Shelby County had to punt following an illegal forward pass call.

Citronelle’s ensuing drive stalled out after a fourth down conversion thanks to a third down sack from Eli Carlisle soon after that.

Then, Shelby County looked to be in business on offense thanks to the Palmieri brothers. Anthony converted a third-and-3 before Nico made a big third down catch-and-run play to get to the Citronelle 35.

Just like the first two drives in plus territory, Shelby County stalled out and turned the ball over on downs at the Citronelle 29 with 2:29 left in the half.

That proved to be crucial as Shelby County’s defense cracked for the first time all night.

On the first play of the drive, Citronelle passed over to the right sideline and sprinted full speed for a 71-yard touchdown.

That one play made the difference in the half, leaving the halftime score 7-0 as Shelby County couldn’t respond on its ensuing drive.

Shelby County faced more adversity to start the second half after Citronelle returned the opening kickoff to the SCHS 31.

However, the defense held strong once again, and after offsetting penalties gave them a second chance at a fourth down stop, a low hit stopped Citronelle right in its tracks, forcing a turnover on downs.

That gave Shelby County a spark on the other end of the field to finally get on the scoreboard.

Facing pressure on third down, Ryan Sipes got off a pass with two defenders in his face and hit a perfect arc to Eli Holliman in stride before the senior receiver ran down to the Citronelle 26.

On the very next play, Sipes was forced to throw a checkdown to Anthony to save the play. Shelby County’s star running back worked his magic, hitting a juke near the right sideline and taking the ball 25 yards into the end zone, tying the game at 7-7 with 7:44 left in the third.

However, Citronelle responded just over a minute later to retake the lead.

A third-down catch and run got the visitors to the SCHS 31-yard line, and one play later, they took the ball off the right edge of the line and into the end zone, putting Citronelle back up 14-7 with 6:15 remaining in the third quarter.

Citronelle’s defense continued to hold strong on the next two Shelby County drives.

First, Shelby County suffered a false start on fourth-and-1 at the 20 before getting stopped on the next play, and then, after multiple first downs from Anthony and a Citronelle face mask put the ball on the 12, a fourth down sack ended the drive at the 8 with 4:58 remaining.

However, just like on the previous Citronelle offensive drive, Shelby County forced a quick punt to keep it a one-score game. Only this time, the SCHS special teams used the punt to cut into the deficit.

With Citronelle punting from the goal line, Shelby County put hands up in the middle of the line and blocked the punt. What’s more, the ball ricocheted through the back of the end zone for a safety.

The big play made the score 14-9 with 3:19 remaining and putting the offense back on the field with a chance to take the lead instead of tie.

Needing a spark to get down the field, Sipes launched 47-yard pass that got the ball down to the Citronelle 4-yard line.

Once again though, Citronelle’s red zone defense proved tough to crack.

Shelby County was stuffed on a first-down run before three straight passes fell incomplete, forcing a turnover on downs with 1:34 remaining and giving the ball back to Citronelle to kneel out the clock and Shelby County’s season.

Sipes was 13-of-23 passing for 201 yards and a touchdown and took nine carries for 15 yards. Nico was his top target thanks to the 49-yard catch, which was also his lone reception. Campbell Aderholt caught one pass for 41 yards and Ethan Hall had four catches for 34 yards.

Anthony got over 100 yards rushing once again as he took 32 carries for 110 yards while catching four passes for 39 yards including the third-quarter receiving touchdown that was the lone trip to the end zone for his team.

After the game, Ellison credited Citronelle’s defensive line as well as its coaching staff for making life difficult for his offense. He said much of the game came down to who made fewer mistakes.

“It is what it is,” Ellison said. “When you play playoff football, it comes down to that, and we told them all week it was going to come down to two or three plays, who made mistakes, who didn’t make mistakes, so they didn’t make many, and neither did we. That was just a great high school football game. We just happen to come out on the losing the end of it.”

While Shelby County did end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard, it didn’t take away from the season-long journey and turnaround to win six more football games than a season ago and start to see years of work pay off.

Ellison credited his seniors for sticking with the program and helping build it into what it has become. Despite the loss, he continued to express that dominant emotion: pride

“When we got here, they had made the playoffs one time in 12 years,” Ellison said. “So, the expectation was to get to that second season like it’s been everywhere that we’ve been. But now, that’s not it. We’re expected to be there, we’re expected to compete each and every week, and now, it’s about competing and actually making a run at the championship, and it’s a slow process, but I’m extremely proud of our guys. I can’t tell you how proud I am of them.”

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