Shelby Academy fell to Southern Academy 13-0 Friday night in Greensboro to finish as state runner-up for the second straight year.

The Raiders (10-3) were held to 84 yards of total offense in the contest and didn’t cross into Southern territory until the second half.

&uot;The best team won,&uot; Shelby coach Dewayne Kervin said. &uot;We should be proud to be No. 2. No one can take that away. We definitely earned that.&uot;

Shelby Academy, which rode into the AISA Class A championship game on the heels of a stifling defense, met its match in the Cougar unit that didn’t allow a point during the entire playoffs.

Southern (12-0) kept the Shelby offense in check all night long.

The Raiders’ best opportunity to score came in the second half. Trailing 13-0, Shelby had stuffed Southern on third down when Kervin called for a timeout.

&uot;We knew we needed short field to play on so we called a punt block,&uot; Kervin said.

Tim Dawson swatted the Southern kick to give the Raiders their best field position of the night, but Shelby failed to capitalize, missing an opportunity on a screen play that offered a clear lane down the sideline.

Shelby’s 4-3 defense, which recorded eight shutouts this season, did its part to keep the game close. The Raiders twice kept the Southern offense from scoring inside the red zone.

Southern’s only points came in the first half on a 9-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and a 2-yard run in the second.

The Cougars piled up 287 rushing yards in the game.

The finish gave the Raiders back-to-back second-place finishes in AISA. Shelby fell to Jackson Academy in last season’s title game at Troy’s Movie Gallery Stadium