SCHS earns playoff berth
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, October 8, 2002
Shelby County High School went to 4-0 in region play (5-1 overall) with a 15-0 shutout of Corner at SCHS last Friday night.
The win got the Wildcats in the playoffs.
&uot;We are No. 1 in the region and the only undefeated team &045; knock on wood &045; in the region,&uot; SCHS head coach Geoff Walters said.
The win came behind a stellar defensive effort by Shelby County, an effort which Walters said could be the best he’s ever seen.
&uot;We played great on defense,&uot; Walters said. &uot;That’s possibly the best defensive effort I’ve ever seen as a coach.&uot;
Shelby County stopped the Yellow Jackets four times inside the 10-yard line the preserve the shutout win.
Corner ran four plays from within the 1-yard line only to be turned away by the stingy Wildcat defense.
Marc Lemley got the Wildcats on the board for what turned out to be the only score they needed in the second quarter. Lemley broke three tackles and outran the Corner secondary before finding the end zone on a 64-yard run. Derrick Harris punched it in for the 2-point conversion, giving the Wildcats an 8-0 lead at the half.
Drew Holsomback stripped the ball from Corner quarterback Josh Hoyle in the third period and J.P. Lemley fell on the ball in the end zone for the Wildcats final score of the night. Eric Hernandez tacked on the extra point for the 15-0 win.
Harris finished the night with 57 yards rushing on 10 attempts and Michael Gaiters ran 47 yards on 11 attempts. Lemley finished the night with 73 yards and a score on just 5 attempts.
On the defensive side of the ball Gaiters led the way with 8 tackles including 3 for a loss. Jamie Leeper recorded 6 and Sean McKinley 6 including 4 for a loss. Marc Lemley had 5 tackles on the night.
&uot;It was a huge win for us and just such a great defensive effort,&uot; Walters said.
Next on the schedule for the Wildcats is a trip to Jemison, another regional matchup.
&uot;Jemison has great talent, and their record doesn’t show that,&uot; Walters said. &uot;They may have the best talent in the region, but they are just down a little for some reason. They are young, a lot bigger than us, and have a lot of speed. They will be pumped up and ready for us.&uot;