The 79th edition of the Battle of 41-A is one that will be talked about for years to come as Shelbyville edged Tullahoma in a Thriller 28-27 Friday night at Wilkins Stadium in Tullahoma.
After trading punts on their opening possessions the home team struck first as Marvancy Johnson rumbled 41 yards to give Tullahoma a 7-0 lead. The two play 49 yard drive was set up by the Wildcat special teams who downed a Sam Bobo punt inside the 5 yard line and the Tullahoma defense who forced a Golden Eagle three and out which flipped the field in the Wildcats favor.
Shelbyville countered with what would be a theme for the night. Sustained Golden Eagle scoring drives featuring the one two punch of running back Robert Bailey and Quarterback Stephen Bobo who capped a 12 play 80 yard 4:36 drive with a three yard TD run to even the score at 7 with a little over a minute remaining in the opening quarter.
After a trio of punts (two for the Cats, one for the Eagles) Shelbyville took their first lead of the night again on a sustained drive going 79 yards in 10 plays and chewing 4:15 off the clock. This time it was Nate Zimmerman punching it in from a yard out to make it 14-7 with 2:43 left in the first half. The Eagle scoring drive was extended by a facemask penalty of the Wildcats after Stephen Bobo was stopped short on a forth down scramble.
After picking up a first down and then a trio of incompletions Tullahoma was forced to punt and then Shelbyville ran out the clock on the first half to head to the locker room up 14-7.
Out of the intermission the fireworks show began as the teams would combine for 34 second half points.
Shelbyville pushed their lead to 14 with a 13 play 80 yard drive that chewed 6:37 off the clock to open the third quarter capped by an 18 yard touchdown run from Robert Bailey.
Tullahoma punched right back as Marvancy Johnson scored for the second time on the night from nine yards out to cap a six play drive that was highlighted by a 38 yard pass from Lucas Reed to Alex Bobo down the far side line to get the Wildcats into the redzone.
The Cats then stole a possession as they received a muffed kickoff on a short sky kick at the Shelbyville 30. Six plays later Reed hit Alex Bobo on an 8 yard fade in the right corner of the endzone to tie the game at 21 with :58 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Golden Eagle broke the mold on their next possession striking right back in 60 seconds to retake the lead 28-21 with 11:50 left in the game as Stephen Bobo hit Labrn Ransom down the left sideline for a 35 yard touchdown on 4th and 4.
After runs of 13, 5 and 22 yards from Marvancy Johnson got the Wildcats to the Shelbyville 30 Lucas Reed threw a beautiful pass to Khani Johnson to pull Tullahoma with in a point at 28-27 with 8:32 left in the game. However Chase Dodson’s PAT attempt when off the right upright no good keeping the Golden Eagles ahead by a point.
Shelbyville chewed 6:45 off the clock before having to settle for a 25 yard field goal by Ben Betzelberger. The first attempt was good but offsetting penalties forced a second try which went wide left.
That gave Tullahoma 1:40 to try to get into range for Dodson to attempt a game winning kick. However on the fourth play of the drive Stephen Bobo picked off a deflected pass intended for Will Hyden to seal the victory for Shelbyville.
With the win the Golden Eagle finish the Regular season 9-1 and 6-0 in the region for the second year in a row. The back to back 5-5A champions will open the post season at home vs Hillsboro Friday night. Coverage, presented by Ley Plumbing, begins at 6:30 on Golden Eagle County 105.1 and 95.9.
The Wildcats, who were locked into the three seed after Lincoln County topped Columbia close the regular season 6-4 overall and 4-2 in region play. Tullahoma will travel to Nolensville to open the 5-A playoffs Friday Night. Coverage, presented by Hogan’s Collision Center, starts at 6:30 on 93.9 The Duck.
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