CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (3-4, 3-1) nearly overcame a 14-0 and 21-6 deficit on the road, but ultimately came up short against the Clarksville Wildcats (6-2, 4-0) 28-19 on Thursday night in a non-region contest.

Early on, it looked like Clarksville might run away from the Golden Eagles, taking a 14-0 lead into the halftime locker room thanks to some ill-timed penalties from the visitors paired with strong WIldcat defense.

Neither team scored in the first quarter, but then with 6:35 to go in the second quarter, Josh Anderson scored his first touchdown of the season on a 10-yard touchdown run. The extra-point was no good, giving Clarksville a 6-0 lead.

Following another Golden Eagles punt, Anderson broke free for 69 yards before he was tackled at the Shelbyville one-yard line. Ahvare Galbreath finished off the drive with a one-yard plunge into the end zone for his eighth touchdown of the season. Following a successful two-point conversion, Clarksville extended their lead to 14-0 with 3:25 left in the first half.

Coming out of halftime, neither offense managed to reach the end zone until Stephen Bobo used his legs to fly 56 yards to paydirt and nearly cut the lead in half, 14-6, with 3:06 remaining in the third quarter.

However, Clarksville responded on its ensuing possession, marching down the field to the Golden Eagles five-yard line before Jamarcus Watkins found the end zone for his fourth rushing touchdown of the season to give the Wildcats a 21-6 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Even still, Shelbyville would not go away. Less than three minutes later, Stephen Bobo once again found enough space for a 50+ yard touchdown run, this time from 55 yards out, for his fifth rushing touchdown this season. After the two-point conversion attempt failed, the Golden Eagles still trailed by two scores, 21-12, with 9:10 left on the clock.

After the Shelbyville defense got a stop to give the ball back to the offense, Robert Bailey found the end zone for the sixth time this season from 24-yards out to cut the lead to 21-19 with 4:45 left in the fourth quarter. All of a sudden, a game Clarksville had felt in firm control of for the vast majority of the night was in the balance.

After taking possession on the kickoff, Clarksville found themselves facing a fourth-and-one at the Golden Eagles’ 29-yard line. However, with just 1:39 remaining, the Wildcats’ Ahvare Galbreath found a hole, bursting through the seam to score his second touchdown of the night and put the game away, 28-19. 

Clarksville heads into their bye week.

Shelbyville Central returns home for a massive Region 6-6A contest against unbeaten Ravenwood on Friday night.