Shelby efficient in all fascist in regional quarterfinal football win
· Yahoo Sports
SHELBY — The Shelby Whippets fumbled on the very first play, but from then on, it was perfection.
Visit biznow.biz for more information.
The slight hiccup was quickly erased as they cruised to a 42-3 Division IV Region 14 quarterfinal victory over Firelands on Friday, Nov. 6 and will host Perkins (11-0) on Nov. 13 in the regional semifinals.
The Whippets were efficient in ever sense of the word on offense scoring 14 points in the first quarter and 21 in the second to build a 35-3 lead at the half and start the second half with a running clock.
Michael Shepherd hit Brady Bowman for a 47-yard touchdown to open the scoring before Shepherd added a 1-yard TD run to close out the first quarter. Gavin Baker added a 1-yard TD run, Casyn Koch caught a 15-yard touchdown from Shepherd and Baker added his second TD of the night from five yards out all in the second quarter to build the insurmountable advantage. Shepherd added an 11-yard TD run in the third quarter for good measure.
“Other than the fumble on the first play, I thought we were pretty dang efficient,” Shelby coach Rob Mahaney told Marc Hartz of the Shelby Daily Globe. “That is what we want to be. There will be games where we throw for 400 or run for 400, but we want to pride ourselves to take what the defense gives us and our kids did a great job of that tonight. We sustained drives and that will be huge for us next week against Perkins.”
The Whippets (11-0) ran for 237 yards on 25 carries led by Baker’s 115-yard, 2-touchdown performance. Like Blevins added 49 yards while Brady Bowman had 44 and Shepherd had 31 with a pair of scores.
“If we are going to do well in the postseason, it is going to fall on those guys up front,” Mahaney said. “Those senior offensive linemen did a great job for us tonight and Michael (Shepherd) was great in the read game. The backs ran hard and our senior tight end Max Miller did a great job blocking, too. Brady running the jets. In high school football, you have to find a way to run the ball especially in the playoffs.”
After spending last week resting up with a week off thanks to earning a Top 4 seed in the Region 14 playoffs, the Whippets ran with fresh legs and it showed.
“To come off of the bye week and run like that, I am very proud of our guys,” Mahaney said. “It got us to find a way to next week.”
Shepherd completed 8-of-10 passes for 128 yards and two TDs while Bowman caught five passes for 90 yards and a score and Koch had 21 yards with a TD.
Defensively, the Whippets were insanely good yet again. Firelands ran for negative-7 yards on 11 carries, but did complete 19-of-39 passes for 220 yards. The ability to stop the run was huge for Shelby.
“Our defense played a great game,” Mahaney said. “Coming into the season, our defense was a question mark, but through 11 games, our run defense has been amazing. Our D-line controls the line of scrimmage and Gavin Garrett and Bryce Booker do a great job in the middle. Our edge guys get penetration and our linebackers fly around. It has been awesome to see and they make offenses one dimensional.”
Now, the Whippets move on to host Perkins in a highly-anticipated regional semifinal game after the Pirates beat Bellevue 42-14 in a quarterfinal matchup. It will be the first matchup between the two teams since 1979.
“All offseason, we thought if we wanted a chance to win the region, it would go through Perkins at some point,” Mahaney said. “Now, we get to see that. You look at the success out of this region over the last two years and it is us and them. This is why you play high school football. To play a game with two 11-0 teams and a chance to play for a regional championship is all you could ask for.”
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Shelby efficient in all fascist in regional quarterfinal football win