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By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – Shelby County’s offense came out firing and never looked back in a dominant 50-21 win over Montevallo on Friday night, Oct. 10, at Theron Fisher Stadium.

The Wildcats (4-4) piled up 340 yards of total offense—263 of them on the ground—and scored on seven of their first eight possessions to put the game away before halftime in a historic rivalry series with the Bulldogs dating back to 1931.

Senior running back Devan Alexander set the tone early with an 84-yard night on eight carries, including a 32-yard touchdown run that gave Shelby County a 15-7 lead midway through the first quarter. From there, the Wildcats’ depth in the backfield took over.

Ethan Hall, Tyson Duncan, Eli Carlisle and Cale Blevins each added rushing touchdowns as part of a relentless attack behind a dominant offensive line. Quarterback Ryan Sipes added 77 passing yards on two completions, including a 65-yard touchdown strike to Dominic Woods, who also returned a blocked field goal 82 yards for another score in the second quarter.

By halftime, Shelby County led 50-14 after piling up 263 rushing yards and finding the end zone on offense, defense and special teams, a truly dominant performance in all three phases.

Head coach Zeb Ellison praised his team’s effort but emphasized the importance of staying sharp despite the big win.

“Our message is always just to get better each and every day,” Ellison said. “We started off kind of sluggish right there and fumbled the ball, which we haven’t done much. We’ve still got a lot of things to clean up, a lot of things to fix. Hopefully, we can just try to get better each and every day.”

Ellison particularly commended the depth of his running back room and strong play from his offensive front.

“We’ve got some really good running backs,” Ellison said. “Up front on the offensive line, we’re trying to move guys around and find the best combination. Hopefully, we’ve got it figured out. We don’t know yet—we just have to go back, look at the film and make little tweaks week in and week out to get better.”

Montevallo (1-6) fought hard early, answering Shelby County’s opening touchdown with a 62-yard sweep from sophomore Jaedyn Rutledge to tie the game 7-7. But after the blocked field goal return shifted the game’s momentum, the Bulldogs struggled to keep up with the Wildcats’ physicality.

Rutledge remained a bright spot with 103 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries, while quarterback Jordan McCary added 57 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Caleb Meriweather chipped in 72 rushing yards on 12 carries, helping Montevallo rack up 232 rushing yards overall.

Defensively, Jackson Holsomback and Jakob Fowler each recorded six tackles, while Marquel Jackson added four stops and a fumble recovery.

Head coach Garrett Langer said that despite the lopsided score, he saw encouraging signs from his young roster.

“I thought we started pretty well. We were playing hard and competing,” Langer said. “We made a play, got a turnover on defense and then punched it in on a big play offensively. When they blocked the field goal, that’s when it snowballed on us and got away from us.”

Langer is primarily focused on his team maturing through adversity, praising Rutledge’s play as a sophomore.

“We have to stay engaged in the game and can’t lay down when bad things happen,” Langer said. “Jaedyn (Rutledge) is going to be a special player—he’s just a 10th grader, and he’s starting to figure it out. We’re extremely young, and we’re taking our lumps right now, but we’re going to keep working and trying to mature.”

The Wildcats’ second half was a showcase for their reserves as the clock ran continuously with a 50-14 lead. McCary added a 41-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to round out the scoring at 50-21.

After losing their previous three games, Shelby County will now look to build on its momentum next week at home against Selma, while Montevallo aims to take another step forward in its young team’s development in a road trip to Sipsey Valley.