SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – After taking down Tullahoma in a low-scoring, defensive affair in week one, the Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (1-1) were unable to contain Tot Gardner in a 43-22 defeat to non-region foe Marshall County (1-1) on Thursday night.

Gardner, who accounted for all six Tiger touchdowns including five rushing touchdowns, finished with 21 carries for 168 yards on the ground. He also completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Tears in the fourth quarter.

“We had a lot of mis-alignments,” Golden Eagles’ Head Coach Jud Dryden said postgame, “We had three new starters this week inside the box, so that hurt, and we didn’t use proper mechanics at times. We kind of let the game get bigger than us at times.”

Shelbyville Central actually hung around well into the fourth quarter against the visiting Tigers, trailing by just seven points, 29-22, with 6:03 remaining after a one-yard touchdown plunge by Jackson Themm and a Rucker scramble on the two-point conversion capped off a drive that included a 60-yard scamper down the sidelines from freshman tailback Laron Brown.

After an attempted onside kick gave the ball to the Tigers at the Golden Eagles’ 40-yard line, Shelbyville Central contained Gardner well enough to force the visitors into a 3rd-and-4 from the 34-yard line. Coming out of a timeout with 4:23 to go, quarterback Gavin Schrader took the snap and pitched out to Gardner on his right side. The Golden Eagles looked to have the star tailback contained, but Gardner unleashed a perfect pass down the sideline to a wide-open Kendrick Tears for a backbreaking touchdown to go up 36-22 with 4:14 remaining in the game.

Shelbyville Central went four-and-out, and then Gardner scored his fifth and final rushing touchdown two plays later to put the final nail in the coffin.

The Golden Eagles came into Thursday’s contest intent on playing both quarterbacks in sophomore starter Cyonn Rucker and freshman Hudson Oaks. Oaks finished 3-for-4 for 26 yards and one touchdown while Rucker went 5-of-12 for 62 yards and one touchdown. 

“Our starting quarterback is also our starting safety, so being able to get the younger quarterback some reps in a non-region game allows us to be in a position later on where if we need to get him on the field, we can get him on the field. And he definitely has the talent.”

Marshall County took the opening kickoff and reached the Golden Eagles’ 15-yard line, but an Ethan McBee tackle at the line-of-scrimmage on fourth down resulted in a turnover-on-downs. Shelbyville Central went three-and-out, and then Rucker gave the hosts the ball at the Tigers’ 25-yard line with his first interception of the young season.

Oaks came out to lead the ensuing drive, initially handing the ball off to Titan Long to get inside the 10-yard line following a Marshall County offside. On 1st-and-5 from the six-yard line, Oaks rolled right to find Jackson Themm in the flat for his second receiving touchdown of the season, giving the Golden Eagles an early 7-0 lead with 1:45 to go in the opening period.

After a short kickoff, the visitors started the ensuing possession on their own 45-yard line. However, Rucker once again came down with a spectacular interception on the second play of the drive after Shrader’s underthrown deep ball allowed Rucker to dive into position to force another turnover. 

“He [Cyonn Rucker] sees the field well and he does a good job,” Dryden said postgame, “Whether it’s at quarterback or safety, he’s very aware of the gameplan, he sees the field well, and he’s going to be a really good football player.”

Unfortunately for the hosts, they were forced to punt the ball back to the Tigers. Marshall County would finally break through the Golden Eagles’ defense with an 18-yard touchdown run by Gardner, and after a needless offsides penalty on the extra point, the Tigers tacked on a two-point conversion with a toss to Gardner to take an 8-7 lead with 9:59 left in the first half.

Shelbyville Central’s Laron Brown, who ran for a team-high 146 yards on just 10 carries on Thursday night, busted a 28-yard run to get into Marshall County territory, but an Eli Prince fumble three plays later abruptly ended the promising drive at the 31-yard line.

Despite the unexpected turnover, the Golden Eagles’ defense forced a quick punt, and Rucker led the offense back onto the field at their own 24-yard line with 4:30 to go in the first half. Rucker opened the drive with a 24-yard completion to Marquise Tipton over the middle, and then Shelbyville Central pounded the rock with Titan Long. Long would finish the night with 15 carries for 57 yards in place of Torrion Mathis, who was precautionarily held out in hopes he can return for the Region 6-6A opener on Friday against Franklin.

Then, on 3rd-and-4 at the Marshall County 21-yard line, Rucker took the snap, retreated, and rolled left before lofting a pass towards Kyvell Rippy down the left-sideline in the end zone. The ball was deflected up in the air, but Rippy maintained extraordinary concentration to somehow secure the catch while getting a foot down inbounds for the improbable go-ahead touchdown. Themm’s extra-point was good, and the Golden Eagles took a 14-8 lead with 1:08 to go.

After a short kickoff, the Tigers began their final drive of the half in plus-territory at the Golden Eagles 39-yard line, and Gardner ultimately capped off the drive with a four-yard touchdown plunge to take a 15-14 lead heading into the halftime locker room.

Shelbyville Central would get the ball to start the second half, but thanks to a slip on the kickoff return, the hosts began the important possession at their own two-yard line. Treyveon Mathis, who finished with 67 yards rushing on 15 attempts, galloped for 18 yards to the 20-yard line, and after a few more rushes, the Golden Eagles were facing a 4th-and-1 at their own 44-yard line. Dryden gave the green light to go for the first down, but the Tigers stonewalled the hosts, forcing a turnover-on-downs. One play later, Gardner found a lane down the left sideline for a killer 44-yard touchdown run to take a 22-14 lead with 8:49 to go in the third quarter.

Both teams traded punts on the following drives, and then another pivotal mistake on a fumbled exchange between the quarterback and running back gave the ball back to the Tigers 24 yards away from the end zone. Once again, Gardner needed just a single play to find paydirt, breaking five tackles on his way to a 24-yard touchdown run to make it 29-14 with just under 11 minutes remaining in the final frame.

Despite all the self-inflicted wounds, the Golden Eagles did not go away, mounting a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that took 4:29 off the clock to trim the lead back down to seven points, 29-22. Brown’s electrifying 60-yard run got Shelbyville Central into position to give the ball to Jackson Themm for his one-yard touchdown run, but the Golden Eagles would not score again.

Shelbyville Central falls to 1-1 overall. The Golden Eagles open Region 6-6A play at home on Friday against Franklin with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.