After scoring on their first two possessions, the Shelby Academy Raiders found the going tough on the road against Jackson Academy last Friday night, losing 28-12 in the second round of the AISA playoffs.

&uot;We didn’t play very well,&uot; SA head coach Dewayne Kervin said. &uot;Once we got under pressure, our youth and inexperience showed. What hurt us the most is that we had to play a lot of assignment and one-on-one football on defense and we aren’t used to doing that and don’t have the personnel to do that.&uot;

With 28 seconds left in the first half and the score 14-12 in favor of Jackson, JA blocked a punt on the 8-yard line. From there, with no timeouts, Jackson scored on an 8-yard pass play to take the lead 21-12 at the half.

&uot;Our kids hung their heads after that and we really never got our focus back.&uot;

Late in the third quarter the Raiders had a chance to cut into that lead with fourth-and-two from the 8-yard line. After a failed conversion, Shelby Academy had lost a golden opportunity.

&uot;We just missed a blocking assignment on that play and they sent a linebacker in and we actually lost a yard,&uot; Kervin said.

With a touchdown, the Raiders could have cut the lead to 21-18 or 21-19 with a PAT of 21-20 with a 2-point conversion.

&uot;It would have been a totally different game had we made that conversion and scored there,&uot; Kervin said. &uot;After that, we gave up a big play and that was it for us.&uot;

That big play was a 64-yard scoring run by Jackson in the fourth quarter.

&uot;That is by far the longest run we have given up this season,&uot; Kervin said.

Shelby Academy’s two touchdowns on the night came when Ryan Elm scored on an 8-yard run in the first quarter and caught a 24-yard scoring pass from brother Andrew in the second quarter.

Michael Childress led the Raiders with 118 yards on 20 carries. Ryan Elm finished with 40 yards on 8 attempts.

Andrew Elm completed 1-of-6 passes for one score and threw one interception.

Jackson scored 7 points in the first quarter, 14 in the second and 6 in the fourth.

The Raiders gained 163 yards on the night and Jackson gained 245 yards &045; 156 on the ground and 79 through the air.

Shelby Academy ends the season with a record of 9-3 and graduates only 4 seniors. Senior Michael Childress was named to the AISA All-Star team.

&uot;I am very happy with the year we had,&uot; Kervin said. &uot;We played more eighth, ninth and tenth graders than anyone in the region. I can count 4 games that could have gone the other way on us this year, so I would have to say with that youth that I am very proud of the way the kids played this year.&uot;