Eagles hope to prove their power vs. Giles Co.

Shelbyville backup quarterback Luke Faulk will get the start for injured Tre Stewart when the Golden Eagles entertain Class 4A defending state champion Giles County at 7.
(T-G Photo by Gary Johnson)

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The Golden Eagles (3-0, 1-0 8-AAA) enter the contest with huge wins over Class 6A opponents Coffee County, Warren County and Franklin County while Giles County (2-1, 1-0 12-AA) posted victories against Cookeville and Spring Hill with a loss to Lawrence County.

"We are looking forward to this game," Central coach Jason Hardy said. "I think this will be our toughest challenge of the season thus far. I'm very pleased to be where we're at with three wins to start the season but we still have a lot of work to do and still need to focus on the little things that we need to correct.

"It's good to be 3-0 but it's even better to see progress each week and our ultimate goal is to get better and better each week."

The Eagles were 3-0 at the same point of the season last year when they lost 51-3 in Pulaski.

Hardy and his team haven't forgotten that loss, but he believes this squad is ahead of last year's after the first three games of the season.

"We started the season at 3-0 last year as well but I think we are doing the small things better and have a lot more depth this year," Hardy said. "We're getting a more things done at practice this year and that makes me feel better as well."

Giles County may not have as much experience as they did last year, but the Bobcats are very well coached and still have a talented football team.

Standout quarterback Bo Wallace and a host of outstanding players graduated, but the Bobcats have built their program to the point where they reload instead of rebuild.

"They are a defending state champion and they are so good in all phases of the game," Hardy said. "We've talked about how they have become one of the great football teams in the state and where they came from. They have really built a great football program and that's something that we want to do here at Shelbyville. The things that they have done to become state champions are the same exact same things we need to be doing in our program every day."

The Bobcats enter the game averaging 31 points a game while allowing 26.

The Eagles have scored 125 points in three games for an average of 41.7 per game.

Shelbyville's defense is giving up an average of 16 points an outing.

In the first three games, the Eagles were in control by halftime and coasted to victory in the second half.

"We are going to have to play all four quarters to win this game," Hardy said. "We've worked a lot on staying focused throughout the week at practice. We're not looking to do a lot of different things this week; we just want to do what we do better."

Shelbyville has a number of players with nagging injuries, the most significant being senior starting quarterback Tre Stewart.

Stewart suffered an apparent mild concussion in last week's game and has not been released to play, Hardy said. Junior Luke Faulk will take his place behind center.

Stewart has been one of the key components to the Eagles' explosive offense this season, gaining 347 yards on 40 carries with seven touchdowns on the ground while connecting on 11-of-20 passes with two touchdowns and one interception.