Shelby County’s undefeated season ends in loss to St. Clair County

Published 12:31 am Saturday, September 28, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By STEPHEN DAWKINS | Special to the Reporter

COLUMBIANA – The Shelby County Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season, 28-21, to non-region foe St. Clair County on Friday, Sept. 27 at Shelby County High School.

Shelby County got on the scoreboard first. Anthony Palmieri broke a long run from about midfield down inside St. Clair County’s 5-yard line.

The Wildcats (5-1 overall and 3-0 in Class 5A, Region 3 play) punched it in and added a 2-point conversion to make it 8-0.

St. Clair County answered with 2:24 on the clock in the first quarter with a touchdown of their own to cut the deficit to 8-7.

In the second quarter, St. Clair County recovered a Shelby County fumble, and three plays later, a touchdown pass to Jayden Cody made it 14-8 after the extra point.

The SCHS defense stood tall the rest of the half, and the Wildcats still faced a six-point deficit at halftime.

Starting from their own 17-yard line for the first possession of the second half, Shelby County used a long run from Palmieri to get into scoring position.

A touchdown pass was called back for a penalty, but the Wildcats were still able to kick a field goal to make the Saints lead 14-11 with 8:05 remaining in the third quarter.

St. Clair County answered about two minutes later with a touchdown by Cody to extend the lead to 10 points at 21-11.

The Wildcats kicked another field goal with about a minute left to play in the third quarter, and the score was 21-14.

The Shelby County special teams came up with a huge play in the fourth quarter, blocking a punt, recovering and running for a touchdown to tie the game at 21-21 after the extra point.

However, the Saints (2-3) had one more score left in them, finding the end zone from about 40 yards out with 3:12 left in the game.

Shelby County had a chance to drive down and score to possibly tie the game, but a pass on fourth-and-5 fell incomplete.

Palmieri finished with 231 yards off 31 carries, and Eli Holliman caught Ryan Sipes’ lone completion for 27 yards.

As for the defense, Ethan Hall led the team with six solo tackles. Cooper Pennington and Eli Carlisle each had five solo tackles, with three of Pennington’s and one of Carlisle’s going for a loss.

All three of Dominic Woods’ tackles were for a loss, and Holliman broke up a team-high two passes.

Though the Wildcats now have a loss on their record, they are still in a strong position in the region standings. They will look to improve their region record to 4-0 when they host Demopolis (3-2) on Oct. 4.

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