SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – Ever since they were in elementary school, William and Stephen Bobo competed together in numerous sports as brothers. On Saturday, May 3, 2025, their athletic careers alongside one another officially came to an end, but the memories created will last a lifetime.

“It was extremely special,” said Stephen Bobo, an upcoming junior at Shelbyville Central High School. “I think we’re going to remember this for probably the rest of our lives.”

“Honestly, we’ve always grown up playing sports together, competing against each other, hitting together, so we’ve always been kinda competing with each other to make each other better,” said William, who just finished his senior season with the Golden Eagles. “It just stood out even more when we competed against other people.”

“It's special to play with your brother.”

After the Golden Eagles’ baseball team suffered a surprising early exit in the District 9-AA Tournament against Columbia Central on May 3, the Shelbyville family was forced to say goodbye to the “Bobo connection” for the final time.

William Bobo, who recently graduated as a member in the Class of 2025, is heading northwest to play football at Austin Peay in Clarksville, TN, and Stephen Bobo – Shelbyville’s star pitcher who is a Top-10 recruit in the state of Tennessee according to Prep Baseball – first helped lead the Golden Eagles’ football program to a second-consecutive Region 5-5A title in the fall of 2024 in Stephen’s first season starting under center at QB before their final baseball season together began. 

“[Playing QB] was fun this year. Third down and however long, just throw it up to William,” Stephen said with a lighthearted laugh. 

The “Bobo-to-Bobo” connection on the football field will go down in history at SCHS as one of the most exciting and memorable duos in school history, culminating in a game-winning touchdown on the road against Coffee County to open region play three games into the season last fall. With about two-and-a-half minutes left and Shelbyville trailing, 28-25, Stephen dropped back and launched a pass down the right sideline towards his elder brother who was covered 1-on-1. William managed to haul the ball in, break the feeble tackle attempt, and saunter into the end zone with 2:17 left to secure a huge road win for the Golden Eagles. 

William Bobo (18) hauled in a game-winning 64-yard TD from his younger brother, Stephen, against Coffee County in 2024.

Shelbyville Football Facebook

Their chemistry wasn’t only evident on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, William and Stephen both started at safety, providing a safety blanket for what was a strong but young Golden Eagles’ defense for the entire season.

“Our linebackers got a lot better throughout the season – Jackson Themm and Brody Thomas – so we didn’t have to make as many plays, but probably for a team scouting us, me and Stephen had speed to contain, so teams would focus on running up the middle more and our linebackers had chances to make more plays. It just helped our overall defense,” explained William.

“Even so, it [being brothers] helped a lot with confidence, especially at safety,” William continued. “I could make a play over here and I can trust [Stephen] that he’s going to make plays, I don’t have to worry and cover as much ground as I would have with someone else because I can trust that he’s going to be there. It kinda helps the chemistry of the team too, having two brothers back there. My senior year with him at quarterback, having that chemistry just helps with communication, routes, him trusting that I can make a play, or me being 40 yards downfield and keep running, expecting that he can get it to me.”

Stephen was inserted into the starting lineup at safety halfway through his freshman year in the fall of 2023, and the Golden Eagles finished 10-2 with a Region 5-5A title with a win in the playoffs.

When star quarterback Nathan Delauter graduated following the 2023 season, Stephen Bobo ended up winning the starting QB vacancy over the summer heading into the 2024 campaign. With star tailback, Robert Bailey, finishing with over 2,000 yards rushing, Shelbyville’s offense grew throughout the season, leading to another Region 5-5A Championship. 

“Practice was a little rough at first, but I started to gain confidence throughout the year,” said Stephen. “Obviously trusting William and Labron [Ransom] and Robert [Bailey] because we had a really good running game…we had weapons all around.”

Stephen Bobo (15) looks to return the Golden Eagles to the playoffs in 2025 as a returning junior.

Shelbyville Football Facebook

After helping lead Shelbyville back to the postseason, the Bobo’s were instrumental in securing a pair of wins in the playoffs to set up a road matchup with Page in the Class 5A Quarterfinals, dispatching Hillsboro in the first round with ease, 42-9, before escaping Nolensville, 33-28, in a last-second thriller. However, the Bobo’s final season together on the gridiron came to a close against the eventual state runner-up, 28-6, on a chilly night in November.

Even with the result, the lone Golden Eagles’ touchdown came on a Bobo-to-Bobo connection in the fourth quarter when Stephen found William wide open down the field off of a playaction fake for a walk-in 36-yard touchdown with 6:39 left. Despite the loss, that moment is part of the Bobo’s memory of great plays together that they’ll never forget.

“We had some moments that were special…the catch at Coffee County was really cool, there was a slant against Columbia to convert on third down,” William began. 

Stephen interjected, “That one you dove back for?” (Stephen put it on William’s back hip to lead away from the onrushing safety). 

William continued, “Page, I mean the last connection from us two was a touchdown.” 

“Spring Hill when I ran that way then ran back,” said Stephen.

“Oh yea that was good. Lincoln County was a fun game for us – we both made a lot of tackles – I mean we were just feeding off of each other on defense so that was fun,” William said.

The elder Bobo concluded with praise for his head coach, Jud Dryden, in how Dryden has built the program in his three seasons at the helm.

“[Dryden] has built the program – more so the culture and chemistry aspect of it – because we’ve always had talent in Shelbyville, but he focuses more on the culture base and the team chemistry/family kind of bond and it helps on the field,” said William.

Once football season came to a close, their focus turned completely towards the baseball diamond for winter workouts. The baseball season began on March 10, and Shelbyville finished the regular season with a 26-8 (7-3) record, good enough for second in the District 9-AAAA standings.

William Bobo (11) finished his senior season with a record of 7-2 and an ERA of 3.29 in 9 starts. He struck out 54 batters while walking just 15 in a team-high 49 innings of work in 2025.

Amy Todd - SCHS Baseball Facebook

Stephen and William finished 1-2 in almost every major statistical category for head coach Chase Jones’ team, and the uniqueness of their final season together was not lost on the brothers.

“Anytime me or William were on the mound, I just think it gave our team a reassurance that we had a good chance to win that game,” Stephen said. “At the plate, they were free and just swinging it, and I think that helped us win ball games.”

Stephen Bobo (15) finished the 2025 season with a 6-3 record and an ERA of 1.11 on the mound while tallying a team-high 66 strikeouts to just 17 walks in 44.1 innings of work as a sophomore.

Colby Stanford

William was the everyday leadoff man for Shelbyville, and when he wasn’t on the mound he was out in center field. Stephen hit third in the lineup, and when the lefty wasn’t on the mound – sitting around 85-88 mph and having touched 91 mph twice in a game this past season – he was out in right field. Senior left fielder Caden Duggin was between them in the 2-hole and hit .366, and the three of them finished with the three highest batting averages on the team in 2025.

William Bobo (11) slides back to first against Columbia Central safely in the District 9-AA Tournament despite being called out on this play. At the plate, the elder Bobo was the Golden Eagles' everyday leadoff man, hitting .440 with 27 RBIs, 45 runs scored, 10 doubles, six triples, and two homers. He finished his senior season with .440/.561/.681 splits for a monstrous OPS of 1.242.

Colby Stanford

The brothers also have an excellent support system around them – starting with each other of course – including the encouragement of both their immediate family and extended family.

Stephen Bobo (15) launches one of his team-high 5 HRs against Columbia. The younger Bobo batted a blistering .534 with 36 RBIs and eight doubles while working a team-high 28 walks to just six strikeouts all season. He finished the year with .534/.630/.757 splits for an astronomical OPS of 1.387.

Amy Todd - SCHS Baseball Facebook

“We always get home, our mom is on the couch, we go and give her hugs, and she tells us how proud of us she is. I think all the way around – our dad, our grandparents, everybody just supporting us – there’s so much love that it kinda helps us to stay loving what we do I guess,” said Stephen.

“Our parents have been to almost every single one of our games. When we were younger, our dad was our coach. We come from a family of athletes, so now, talking to the men in our family – they keep us humble and remind us of how they were in high school – but we know how much they love us,” William said with a hearty laugh.

“In our series at Spring Hill our uncle [Luke Thompson] came out – we went to dinner with him after the game – and he reminded us how good he was at track as an All-American decathlete at Tennessee.” 

Kevin Thompson, whose son Luke Thompson at Franklin High School has received a scholarship offer from the Vols for the 2026 class, was also a walk-on wide receiver under Phillip Fulmer in Knoxville. 

“He reminds us that he’s faster than us as well,” William included.

“Except not now with his pulled hammy,” interjected Stephen with a sly smile. “He pulled it running about our speed now – 11.4 [seconds].”

William and Stephen also have a younger brother – Brooks Bobo – who could be seen at just about every home baseball game this past spring with a soccer ball at his feet trying to nutmeg innocent passerbys. 

“Really we play everything,” said William. “We play pickleball now, chess, pickup basketball, soccer with [our younger brother] Brooks. We started pickleball a year and a half ago with our cousin Luke [Thompson].”

William and Stephen also golf together, and they both gave organized basketball a go in middle school before figuring out that they were more suited for football and baseball.

“We played basketball in middle school just for fun. I mean, we could play defense and get rebounds, but that’s about it. Basketball is just one of those sports you have to practice a lot,” William said.

Stephen interjected with a laugh, “We’re decent. We’re not good, but we’re not terrible.” 

Moving forward, Stephen is preparing for the upcoming school year at Shelbyville with plans to return to both the gridiron followed by the baseball diamond. Meanwhile, William is set to move in at Austin Peay on June 1 to get started on summer practices with the team in preparation for his freshman year in the fall.

“I’m definitely gonna miss baseball,” William concluded. “It was honestly my first love, my first sport that I really practiced everyday trying to be good at. I was nervous and didn’t really wanna graduate for a little while, but now I have a plan with football at Austin Peay so I’m excited.”