Shelbyville senior Jackson Parker showed an interest in being a backup quarterback in his final season. Little did he know his number would be called against one of the most powerful teams in the state.

Parker debuted under center for Shelbyville Friday at McKeand Stadium against Class 4A, No. 1 New Palestine and acquitted himself well. Starting quarterback Eli Chappelow has been dealing with a nagging kind of injury, according to head coach Brian Glesing, and was given a week off to heal.

Glesing expects the junior to be back in charge of the offense next week when Shelbyville travels to Mt. Vernon.

Parker had three days to master the offense from a quarterback’s perspective. He is normally a starting wide receiver.

“I thought it was crazy at first but it ended up being alright,” said Parker after Shelbyville’s 56-0 loss to the Dragons.

Parker (photo) went through quarterback drills Monday and learned he would start Tuesday. The last time he played quarterback was in sixth grade.

Shelbyville had the first possession Friday night and Parker went right to work. A pitch to Axel Conover lost one yard on first down. An Alex Macharia end-around run gained nothing. Cael Lux was able to ground out six yards on third down but that left Parker to punt.

“That first drive I was scared,” admitted Parker.

Glesing liked calling on a senior to lead in what was already a difficult situation.

“He’s a senior leader. Our younger quarterbacks are not ready yet,” said Glesing. “And we can save those (junior varsity) guys for tomorrow’s game.”

Although he did not complete a pass on four attempts, Parker was clean running the offense until a fumbled snap late in the fourth quarter.

“He had mentioned it in the offseason about wanting to be the backup quarterback,” said Glesing. “So he kind of took over and it’s kind of nice to know we’ve got that the rest of the year.”

Shelbyville (1-6, 1-4 Hoosier Heritage Conference) was overmatched from the start by the top-ranked Dragons (7-0, 5-0 HHC), who are ranked No. 2 overall in the state in the Sagarin ratings, who ran 13 plays in the first quarter and scored four touchdowns.

Quarterback Daniel Tippit IV completed all 10 of his pass attempts in the first half for 187 yards and four touchdowns. The senior finished the game 12-for-15 for 222 yards.

Grayson Thomas rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Dragons to a 49-0 lead at halftime.

Shelbyville finished with 93 yards rushing. Keagan Turner led the way with 33 yards – all in the fourth quarter.

Conover carried the ball 10 times for 29 yards. Lux had five carries for 24 yards. And Luke Jackson collected 20 yards on seven carries.