The Shelby Academy Raiders are back on top of the world of AISA football as Class 1A state champions of Alabama.

The 11-2 Raiders avenged a seven-point loss to the South Choctaw Academy Rebels earlier this season to win 26-22 at Movie Gallery Stadium in Troy. They claimed their second state championship under head football coach DeWayne Kervin.

In the last 10 years Kervin&8217;s teams have been in the championship game five times and have won twice. They have reached the final four in seven out of 10 years.

&8220;It&8217;s not so much about me winning them any more,&8221; said Kervin. &8220;You want the kids to see that when they work hard they get something out of it … You&8217;re always happy for the players.&8221;

Kervin said, &8220;I feel more relief than joy … The only thing that really gave me the incentive to win, was that I hated to be the bridesmaid and lose four out of five. So, it was nice to get that little monkey off my back.&8221;

Kervin called the win over South Choctaw unusual because it came with a team he wasn&8217;t sure could reach the championship.

&8220;We had a lot of setbacks during the year and sometimes I wondered if we had made enough progress to get to the championship game. But these guys overcame a lot of obstacles, including in the game.&8221;

Another

unusual aspect of this contest was the fast start by the Raiders. &8220;Usually we&8217;re a second half team,&8221; he said.

Shelby Academy scored four touchdowns in the first half to lead 26-6, mainly on big plays.

The Raiders struck first on a second down and eight play at the South Choctaw 22-yard-line with a Cody Wilson run.

A failed two-point attempt left the Raiders up 6-0 at the 10:03 mark of the first quarter.

The Raiders scored again on a second and goal play from the South Choctaw 2-yard line at the 10:54 mark of the second quarter. Rick McBride scored on a 2-yard run. But again, a two-point try failed and the Raiders led 12-0.

Following a Rebel punt out of bounds, the Raiders started their third scoring drive from the Rebel 44-yard line.

Following a 23-yard blast by McBride to the South Choctaw 21-yard line, quarterback Brad Lovoy scored on a 21-yard run. But once again, the Raiders failed to convert the two-point try for an 18-0 lead at the 7:17 mark of the second quarter.

The Rebels would answer with a 23-yard run at the 3:53 mark of the second quarter to make it an 18-6 contest.

But the Raiders answered with a 60-yard TD pass from Lovoy to Josh Sharp just seconds later. The score came on a first and ten play from the Raiders&8217; own 40-yard line at the 3:25 mark of the second quarter. This time, however, Lovoy was able to convert the 2-point try and the Raiders led 26-6.

Heaping more hardship onto the Raiders, McBride injured his ankle in the second quarter and missed most of the second half.

While Kervin said his team was able to put two touchdowns on the board via the big play, he said McBride&8217;s absence made it hard to move the ball in the second half.

Kervin said he told assistant coach Bill Drinkard at the start of the second half, &8220;This is going to be the longest 24 minutes of our lives.&8221;

South Choctaw confirmed Kervin&8217;s fears when they scored on their first possession of the second half on a 22-yard run and followed that score with a 19-yard TD pass.

With two 2-point conversions, the Rebels had cut the lead to 26-22 with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

But Kevin said his defense stepped up. &8220;They probably played harder once South Choctaw cut the lead than they had the whole ballgame,&8221; he said.

Kevin said he thought the Raiders and Rebels were two evenly matched teams. &8220;But we won the big one.&8221;

Kervin said his team had to search for what it was this year. He said they settled on the two running backs McBride and Wilson.

But he said the team had to overcome a host of injuries. Quarterback Lovoy hurt his ankle against Kingwood early and then suffered kidney stones. A second quarterback, Cody Jones went down to a hamstring. And Kervin had to train yet another quarterback in JoJo Tidmore.

He said the team also lost its very best lineman in Parker Headley, &8220;a 300 pound man that hurt us a lot offensively and defensively.&8221; Headley, a senior who had played for Kervin since the eighth grade underwent knee surgery for an ACL.

Kervin said the amazing thing about this year&8217;s team was that it wasn&8217;t as good as it could have been. But he said a lot of young players really stood up. He said he was most surprised by a reworked offensive line with two new players Michael Atchison and Jeremy Ogle that allowed the Raiders to keep putting points on the board.

The Raiders out rushed the Rebels by 100 yards 226 to 126.

Wilson led the Raiders with 20 rushes for 121 yards and a touchdown. Lovoy rushed 12 times for 77 yards and a touchdown. And McBride rushed four times for 29 yards and a TD.

Lovoy completed one of three passes for 60 yards, one interception and one touchdown to Sharp.

With the win Kervin&8217;s all-time coaching record moves to 176-114-1