MURFREESBORO — Shelbyville Central’s Golden Eagles knew they had a tough task on their hands facing top seed and defending 6A state champion Oakland in the second-round of the TSSAA state …
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MURFREESBORO — Shelbyville Central’s Golden Eagles knew they had a tough task on their hands facing top seed and defending 6A state champion Oakland in the second-round of the TSSAA state playoffs on Friday night.
Such was the case as the Eagles were handed a 56-6 loss by the undefeated Patriots to end their season.
Oakland travels to Lebanon on Friday night.
“Oakland is a really good and talented team and we knew that for whatever reason when we moved up there to 6A, we knew someday we were going to come across those guys and we’re just not in a position right now where we are able to beat them. It’s frustrating but it is what it is, I guess,” Shelbyville Central coach Josh Puckett said.
“I was happy with how we moved the ball at times. I told the guys at halftime, no matter who we are playing, if we are not going to make plays the game is not going to go well. We had some balls hit us in the hands and we dropped them and we just really didn’t make the plays.”
Oakland (12-0) led 28-0 at the half and was in total control of the game.
Shelbyville Central's lone touchdown was a 20-yard pass connection to Gavin Donegan from Kade Cunningham.
The two-point conversion effort failed making the score 28-6.
From that point, the Patriots closed out the game with 28 unanswered points.
Oakland quarterback Kade Hewitt connected on 4-of-4 passes for 135 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
He also ran for a TD.
The Patriot defense was also outstanding, collecting a pair of interceptions returned to the end zone.
Isaiah Horton had a 40 yard pick-six, while Tren Johnson added a 38-yarder.
Cunningham was 11-for-26 for 127 yards. He added38 rushing yards.
Laquan Young rushed for 74 yards in 21 carries.
This marks the end for a senior class that has shown a lot of grit and determination over the past four years.
“This senior class is a good group of kids that have showed up every day, did what we have asked them to do and it’s going to be hard to fill their shoes. I’m really proud of this group of seniors and I’m thankful I have been able to coach them these past two years,” Puckett said. “We’ve got to get to work and find some guys to fill those spots.”
The Eagles wrap up the season having played one of the toughest non-region schedules in the state.
Their non-region opponents, including the teams they played in the playoffs, post a combined 74-19 record.
Four are in the state quarterfinals and three of them are currently undefeated with a 12-0 record.
“We had bigger goals than to just finish second in our region and make it to the second round of the playoffs. Lebanon is really good. They won our region and they are still playing. Yes, our schedule was really tough, but we had bigger plans. With that said, I am extremely proud of what this team did accomplish this year. I like the direction this football program is headed and we have some talent coming up over the years to come.”
Shelbyville Central 0 0 6 0 — 6
Oakland 14 14 21 7 — 56
First Quarter
O — Isaiah Horton 40 pass interception (Avory Rogers kick), 9:59.
O — Kade Hewitt 10 run (Rogers kick), 1:22.
Second Quarter
O — Horton 28 pass from Hewitt (Rogers kick), 7:06.
O — Khalil James 47 pass from Hewitt (Rogers kick), 3:05
Third Quarter
SC — Gavin Donegan 20 pass from Kade Cunningham (run failed), 10:17.
O — Antonio Patterson 54 run (Rogers kick), 10:05.
O — Dylan King 23 pass from James (Rogers kick), 8:31.
O — Tren Johnson 38 pass interception (Rogers kick), 2:57.
Fourth Quarter
O — CJ Puckett 17 run (Rogers kick), 4:20.
THE YARD STICK
SC O
Passing Yards 127 158
Rushing Yards 165 195
Total Yards 292 353
First Downs 15 10
Penalties-Yards 8-50 2-20
Turnovers 3 0
Returns-Yards 4-99 2-78
