Shelbyville Central overcame a 24-14 fourth quarter deficit by outscoring the visiting Lions 20-0 in the final 3 minutes of the game to come away with the scintillating 34-24 win in their Region 5-5A opener. 

Down 24-14 with just over three minutes to go in the fourth quarter and facing a 4th-and-medium on Columbia’s 26-yard line, sophomore Stephen Bobo took a designed QB run right up the middle and scampered past the heart of the Lions’ defense for a 26-yard touchdown to make it a 24-21 game with 2:59 left.

On the ensuing kickoff, Ben Betzelberger came through with a perfect onsides/pooch kick that landed around the Columbia 30-yard line, bouncing away from the Lions’ returner to allow the Golden Eagles to get down the field in time to fall on the football before Columbia. With newfound life, Shelbyville would march the ball into the end zone to cap off the 25-yard TD drive. 

Already in field goal range, Robert Bailey took the handoff for 10 yards and a first down on the first play of the drive. Three plays later, facing a 3rd-and-10 at Columbia’s 15-yard line with 1:11 left on the clock, Shelbyville Central’s Jud Dryden took not one, but two timeouts to figure out what play to run. Stephen Bobo dropped back to pass and found his older brother William over the middle to get inside the 5-yard line to move the chains. On the very next play, Stephen Bobo powered his way into the end zone with 32 seconds left to improbably take the lead, 27-24, after the missed extra point. 

Columbia started their final possession on their own 35-yard line, needing just a field goal to send the game into overtime. Shelbyville’s defense came up with a sack back at the 25-yard line on the first play of the drive, and then on third down with 11 seconds left following a throwaway and facing a 3rd-and-20, the Golden Eagles came away with a pick-six by Brody Lovvorn to seal the comeback win in dramatic fashion, 34-24. 

SCHS Head Coach Jud Dryden has led the Golden Eagles to thrilling victories in back-to-back seasons against Region 5-5A rival Columbia Central.

After their last home game against Marshall County saw the Golden Eagles get outscored by two touchdowns in the last 12 minutes, the opposite happened this time in a Region matchup. In a rematch of last year’s 27-25 thrilling Shelbyville win in Columbia, the two teams created more exciting fireworks at the Eagles’ Nest this season to open Region play thanks to all three phases.

Defensively, Lovvorn helped stonewall the Lions’ on a 4th-and-2 just outside of the red zone with about six minutes left to keep the Golden Eagles alive. Two plays later, the Bobo-to-Bobo deep ball connection struck again, completely flipping the field and putting the hosts on the doorstep of the red zone before Stephen’s 26-yard TD run.

The game started out with Columbia dominating on the scoreboard. The Lions’ took a 14-0 lead about halfway through the second quarter after Justis Haggard ran it in from 13 yards out for his second rushing TD of the first half following his 22-yard TD run in the opening quarter.

Following Haggard’s second TD, the Golden Eagles offense began to drive down the field, capping off the drive with a 16-yard TD run by star running back Robert Bailey with 6:01 left in the second quarter to cut the lead in half. Following a defensive stop, Stephen Bobo found a seam and broke free for a 67-yard TD run with 2:05 left to go into the locker room tied at 14-14. 

The Lions adjusted on their opening drive of the second half, picking up their third rushing TD of the night on a 27-yard run by Daniel Booker to go up 21-14 with 9:29 left in the quarter before Luis Gonzalez tacked on a 30-yard field goal with just under three minutes left to give the visitors a two possession lead at 24-14 going into the final frame.

Columbia Central prevented Bailey from reaching 100 yards rushing for his second consecutive game as he finished with a modest 74 yards and 1 TD on 18 carries, but Stephen Bobo turned out to be the thorn in the Lions’ side. Bobo allocated over 260 total yards with 3 rushing TDs and 1 INT in a breakout performance under center.

Columbia Central falls to 2-2 (0-1). 

Shelbyville Central improves to 3-1 (1-0) and is scheduled to host Wilson Central on Friday night, LIVE on WLIJ 98.7 starting at 6:45 p.m.