Eagles win jamboree, get ready for Raiders

Shelbyville Central's Golden Eagles closed out the preseason with an impressive 27-3 win over visiting DeKalb County in a two-quarter jamboree on Friday night and now turn their attention to the regular season opener against Coffee County in Manchester on Friday night.

The Golden Eagles looked to be ready for the start of the season as they jumped on DeKalb County early, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter, adding another in the second with the defense pitching a shutout until the final play when the Tigers kicked a 34-yard field goal as the buzzer sounded.

Cameron Gordon struck first for Shelbyville, scoring on an 11-yard run at the 6:21 mark. Andrew Thompson connected on his first of three extra points.

Lineman Blair Dukes scooped up the football after a high snap on a DeKalb County punt attempt and ran 15 yards into the end zone for Shelbyville's second touchdown.

Quarterback Tre Stewart scored on a 3-yard run. Then Colby Perryman hauled in a 32-yard TD pass from quarterback Holt Parsons.

"I'm pleased with the way we played," Central coach Jason Hardy said. "We didn't have any mistakes and that was what we were looking for. We utilized our game plan in that we thought we would have a little edge in speed and got the ball into a lot of peoples' hands tonight. Defensively, we did a good job of getting to the football and when you get to the football good things happen."

The Eagle freshmen fell 26-0 to a talented Oakland freshman team in the second game of the jamboree.

Now the Eagles' attention turns to this Friday's season opener at Coffee County in a non-district matchup.

"After the game I congratulated the team on a good game in the jamboree but also told them that now we have to turn our focus on Coffee County," Hardy said.

The team's attitude and work ethic has been great throughout the preseason and Hardy hopes that will carry over to the regular season.

"We've really come together since we first started practice. At the start of preseason we were kind of all over the place and didn't really know who was going to settle in where but these guys have done a real good job of learning their roles."

On offense, the Eagles have a lot of weapons and everything starts with Stewart behind center. The returning starting quarterback sets the tempo on offense and is fortunate to have a huge supporting cast.

Talented sophomore running back Marquis Morton will get a lot of carries along with speedy junior Zach Hamler.

Stewart has a number of threats with a lot of speed in the wideout slots in senior Isiah Washington and junior Cameron Gordon.

The Eagles have as much experience and depth on the offensive line as they've had in a long time.

Dukes returns at center while seniors Blake Sissom, Shaq Kelso, Lee Alcorn, Darion Lanier and Tyler Blessing, along with junior Marc Benford, will anchor the offensive line.

"We've got the most experienced group of offensive linemen we had since I've been here and they are doing a great job," Hardy said. "There are seven guys we can put in there and not have a drop off in play. We're deeper on the line than any other position and that's the first time I've ever said that."

Defensively, Hardy had to replace a number of linebackers due to graduation so he moved ends Bobby Wilson and Donta Scott to the middle of the defense. That move made the Eagles a little thin at defensive end so he's looking for a number of players to pick up the slack. Look for senior Chance Barton, Benford and sophomore David Delrio to fill in at defensive end.

The defensive line features Lanier and junior Logan Holden, who returns after suffering a season ending knee injury early last season.

Shelbyville's secondary is full of speed and talented athletes and the Eagles are three or four deep both at safety and cornerback.

Luke Faulk is out with a shoulder injury and will join the defensive backfield as a starter when he returns.

Sophomore kicker Andrew Thompson has exceeded all expectations in the preseason and is projected to have an outstanding career for the Eagles.

Senior Zack Gordon is handle the punting duties.

The district looks to be very competitive with Columbia, Tullahoma, Lawrence County, Lincoln County and Franklin County along with Shelbyville.

"I guess you have to give Columbia the edge going in because they had a great season finishing state runner-up last year," Hardy said. "On a given night any team in the district can beat anybody so I think it's going to be a great season for everybody."