The Calera Eagles kept their undefeated record intact, holding on to beat the Shelby County Wildcats 19-14 Friday at Rick Cairns Memorial Stadium.

On a chilly fall night made for football, chants of &8220;Roll Shelby&8221; and &8220;War Eagles&8221; filled the air as the Wildcats and the Eagles took the field in front of a packed crowd.

Calera quarterback Earl Haynes led the offense 80 yards on the game&8217;s opening drive, connecting with Seth Merritte for a 28-yard touchdown strike.

After a successful point after attempt, the Eagles took an early 7-0 lead.

With the first quarter coming to a close the Wildcat offense took the field at their own 32-yard line after forcing the Eagles to a four-and-out series.

The Wildcats&8217; offense orchestrated an impressive 13-play scoring drive, marching 68 yards down the field highlighted by Wildcat quarterback Aaron Howard calling his own number on a 28-yard touchdown scamper to even the score at 7-7.

As play continued into the second quarter, the Calera offense was knocking on the door again after a 45-yard pass from Haynes to Eagles receiver Brian Watts. On the very next play, Haynes connected with Watts for a 20-yard touchdown strike.

After a blocked PAT by Wildcat defender Andrew Burns, the Eagles led 13-7.

On the ensuing possession, the Wildcat offense took control on the Eagles 44-yard line after a 55-yard kickoff return by Shelby County&8217;s Tyrone Buie.

With halftime approaching, the Wildcats punched in another score when Buie found the endzone from the Eagles 3-yard line.

The PAT was good, giving SCHS a 14-13 lead at the half.

The second half began with SCHS marching down the field on the first possession of the half; however, the drive stalled after a game-changing defensive stop by the Eagles at their own 5-yard line.

With the third quarter drawing to close after an SCHS punt, the Eagles offense put together a scoring drive starting from their own 41-yard line and ending when Eagles running back Dominque Wilson scoring on a 7-yard dash, putting the Eagles up 19-14 after a failed 2-point conversion.

As time ticked away in the fourth quarter, SCHS attempted to muster up an offensive drive to claim the win but an interception by defensive back Kevin Watkins put the Eagles offense back on the field at the Wildcats 27-yard line.

The game came to a close with the Eagles defense rising to the occasion yet again, stopping a surging Wildcats offense for four plays inside the red zone.

&8220;Everyone talks about our offense, but our defense got it done for us tonight,&8221; Calera coach Mac Thompson said about his team&8217;s defensive effort.

&8220;Our defense just kept coming up big for us tonight.

&8220;We knew that Shelby Co. would come in and try to smash us and we did a good job of fighting back,&8221; Thompson said. &8220;Tonight, we played with a lot of heart and aggressiveness.&8221;

Calera finished the night with 121 yards on the ground and 204 passing yards, completing 12 of 22 attempts. Shelby County picked up 224 yards rushing and completed three passes for 24 yards and tossed two interceptions.

Despite the Wildcats loss, SCHS coach Ryan Herring still praised his team for their efforts.

&8220;Win, lose, or draw, I am proud of our kids because they played hard,&8221; Herring said. &8220;I thought we played a tough game, but there were times we shot ourselves in the foot with some penalties. We just didn&8217;t execute when we need to.

&8220;Calera played a good game and they have some of the best skill players we have seen,&8221; he said.

Region play begins again next week as Calera (5-0) goes on the road to take on Beulah while Shelby County (3-2) travels to Dallas County