That’s who we can be at any moment, so that’s something we have to capitalize on moving forward.”

Jud Dryden

Shelbyville, TN – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles opened the postseason with a dominant showing against the Hillsboro Burros, winning 42-9 on Friday in the first round of the TSSAA Class 5A State Playoffs to clinch a second consecutive 10-win season.

Shelbyville’s offense looked sharp, totaling 403 yards with Robert Bailey leading the way with 171 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 17 carries. Stephen Bobo, who only played in the first half, accounted for 144 total yards, including three carries for 69 yards and 1 TD along with 5/7 passing for 75 yards and 1 TD. Nate Zimmerman got in on the action as well, tallying 12 rushes for 95 yards and 2 TDs.

The Golden Eagles defense held Hillsboro to just 211 total yards, and held Trey Hodges to 8/22 passing for 122 yards and 1 INT along with -1 yards rushing and 1 TD on 9 carries, including three sacks. Brayden Hightower compiled 89 yards rushing on just 8 attempts, including runs of 42 yards and 45 yards, but he was also stuffed on a fourth down in the first half. 

“Gap integrity and effort, that’s really all it boils down to,” Shelbyville Central Head Coach Jud Dryden said postgame about how his defense shut down the Burros’ offense. “Our guys play hard, they know what they’re doing, and they’re getting after it so you can’t really ask for anything more.”

Shelbyville opened the game with a nice kickoff return from William Bobo to start their first drive at the Hillsboro 46-yard line. After picking up a pair of first downs, the Golden Eagles faced a 4th-&-2 at the Burros’ 11-yard line. Bobo kept the ball on a read option, but was spotted just shy of the first down marker, turning the ball over on downs with 8:18 left in the opening period.

Hillsboro got a 42-yard run from Brayden Hightower on their third play to get into SCHS territory, but the hosts’ defense bowed up on the next series of downs to force a punt. 

Shelbyville started their second possession at their own 32-yard line, and on the second play of the drive, Stephen Bobo opened the scoring with a massive 63-yard TD run to go up 7-0 with 5:31 left in the first quarter.

After three consecutive three-and-outs, the Golden Eagles got the ball back at their own 20-yard line with eight seconds left in the first quarter. Two carries later, Robert Bailey was breaking tackles and outrunning the Hillsboro defense for a 75-yard TD to open the second quarter and double the Shelbyville lead at 14-0 with 11:46 to go in the first half.

The Burros finally started to move the ball on offense after starting their next drive at their own 40-yard line, but then Palmer Edwards blew up a 4th-&-2 Hightower run in the backfield to force a turnover-on-downs. 

On the first play of the ensuing possession, Stephen Bobo found his older brother, William Bobo, on a slant over the middle for a catch-and-run 61-yard TD. The Golden Eagles’ third explosive scoring play of 60+ yards put them up 21-0 with 9:09 left in the second quarter. 

“They [explosive plays] broke the game wide open,” Dryden said. “They were well executed, and then the one that wasn’t still popped because it was a great run [by Bailey]. That’s who we can be at any moment, so that’s something we have to capitalize on moving forward.”

Shelbyville forced another three-and-out, and then Nate Zimmerman started to punish the Burros on the ground offensively. Zimmerman ran the ball five times for 42 yards, including a 16-yard TD run with 3:07 left in the first half to take a commanding 28-0 lead into the halftime locker room.

“Nate [Zimmerman] has continued to grow into his own,” Dryden said about his sophomore tailback, “and he’s going to be a good one here.”

Nate Zimmerman (20) chipped in with 95 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 12 carries against Hillsboro.

Hightower started the second half off with his second run of 40+ yards, but a fumble by Hodges on the next play gave the ball right back to Shelbyville at their own 31-yard line. Robert Bailey ran the Golden Eagles down the field, tallying five carries for 53 yards, ending the drive with a 6-yard TD plunge to extend the lead to 35-0 with 8:52 left in the third quarter.

Hillsboro finally showed signs of life on their next offensive possession after a kickoff return put the Burros on SCHS’ 43-yard line. Hodges ended the drive with a 12-yard TD run for Hillsboro’s only touchdown of the game with 5:52 to go in the third quarter to cut it to 35-7.

Shelbyville responded once again with a dominant drive on the ground, spearheaded by Zimmerman rushing for 44 yards on six carries, including a 4-yard TD to cap off the possession and put the Golden Eagles up 42-7 with 1:08 in the third quarter with their final score of the game.

Hillsboro tacked on a safety with less than 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter to get the final score to 42-9 after Xzayvier Jordan picked off his first pass of the season inside the 5-yard line on the previous Burros’ possession. 

“First thing we have to do is fix mistakes from tonight so we can improve and those things going on there, then we’ll start prepping for Nolensville,” said Dryden.

Hillsboro’s season ends at 5-6.

Shelbyville improves to 10-1 (6-0) and hosts Nolensville at the Eagles’ Nest on Friday night, LIVE on WLIJ 98.7 at 6:45 p.m.