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By CHRIS MEGGINSON | Special to the Reporter

HOLTVILLE – Shelby County High School dropped its Class 5A, Region 3 opener on the road at Holtville, 41-18, on Friday evening, Sept. 8.

Ryan Sipes led the Wildcats offense with 232 of the team’s 248 total yards. He completed 18-of-37 passes for 216 yards and also rushed for 16 yards.

Dominic Woods scored the first Shelby County touchdown of the night on a two-yard run with 40 seconds left in the first half to pull within a point of Holtville, 7-6.

The three touchdowns of the night came on short runs until Holtville quarterback Keiland Baker connected with Erik Adkins on an 80-yard touchdown pass to go up 21-6.

On the next Bulldogs possession, Wildcat linebacker Eli Holliman intercepted Baker for a 60-yard pick-six with 2:11 left in the first half. The extra point was blocked, and the Wildcats entered the half down 21-12.

Baker threw two more touchdowns in the second half, including a 60-yard pass to Caleb Blackmon, along with Hunter Chavis’ second touchdown run to help put Holtville up 41-12 early in the fourth quarter.

Sipes capped the night with a short touchdown pass for Shelby County with 5:26 remaining in the game.

Shelby County drops to 0-3 and remains on the road in region play next week, traveling to Jemison on Sept. 15 after falling to 0-1 in Region 3.