NEW CASTLE -- Shelbyville was playing with fire. Then it turned up the heat.
A season-high eight quarterback sacks in the second half shut down New Castle’s offense, Donavon Martin rushed for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and the Golden Bears collected their first Hoosier Heritage Conference win of the season, 34-14.
Shelbyville improved to 3-1 (1-1 HHC) while New Castle dropped to 1-3 (0-2 HHC).
Martin (main photo) carried the ball 13 times in each half for a career-high 26 attempts and 95 yards to go along with the game-sealing touchdown.
“I knew what I had to get done. I knew what I had to do for the team,” said Martin (photo). “Running is a big part of the game. We can’t just pass. Teams catch on. We have to be able to run the clock and keep going forward getting four and five yards every time.”
Shelbyville’s dedicated rushing attack was paired with a versatile passing game where seven different players had a reception and Kohen Myers and Luke Brinkman had touchdown catches in the Golden Bears’ second-highest offensive production of the season.
“It’s just so many different guys making plays,” said Shelbyville head coach Scott Fitzgerald. “That makes it hard on a defense or hard on an offense because when you look at our secondary and you look at our tackles, we had a lot of guys make tackles tonight. When you get 11 guys going to the ball or 11 guys getting involved in the game you can mix it up.”
Shelbyville found itself down 7-0 just 20 seconds into the game on a beautiful night at Neal Field in New Castle. Senior quarterback Eli Chappelow’s first pass of the game was intercepted. On the next play, New Castle quarterback Tyson Lewis connected with Gavin Frazier, who had the interception one play earlier, for a 31-yard scoring strike and a quick lead.
The Golden Bears answered back with a 10-play, 68-yard scoring drive that ended with Myers (photo) hauling in a 20-yard throw from Chappelow to tie the game.
After stopping New Castle on fourth-and-10 just inside the red zone on its next series, Shelbyville methodically marched 84 yards on 22 plays, 11 of which involved Martin, to take the lead for the first time. Chappelow finished the drive with a 7-yard scoring run to give Shelbyville a 14-7 lead.
In its 21-14 loss to Delta in week three, Shelbyville twice lost containment on a receiver when the quarterback scrambled. It happened again at New Castle. On the Trojans’ ensuing drive, Lewis broke free of the pursuit and found Gavin Anderson all alone near the end zone for a 49-yard strike that tied the game once again early in the second quarter.
Shelbyville took the lead just before halftime when Chappelow connected with Luke Brinkman (photo) for his team-leading fifth touchdown and a 21-14 lead.
New Castle moved the ball early in the third quarter and seemingly gained confidence for a program that was 6-18 in its last 24 games and was the only team Shelbyville defeated in 2022. The Trojans were still in the game – and knew it.
A 10-yard pass play from Lewis to sophomore receiver Tylin Thrine, who finished with eight receptions for 128 yards, and a personal foul on Shelbyville moved the Trojans down to the 5-yard line. With an ineffective running game -- New Castle finished with minus-65 yards rushing -- the Golden Bears started unleashing a ferocious assault on the senior quarterback.
Three sacks on the next four plays kept the Trojans from scoring.
New Castle collected its second interception of the game to halt Shelbyville’s next drive, but the Golden Bears just kept coming from all angles. A quarterback sack and a strong rush of a punt attempt left the Golden Bears near midfield as the third quarter nearly expired.
Shelbyville continued on a 12-play scoring drive that took up nearly half of the final quarter. Martin finished the drive with three straight runs that resulted in his first rushing touchdown of the game.
Two more sacks on New Castle’s next series forced a quick change of possession and Martin looked even stronger. The sophomore carried the ball on five of the six plays of the scoring drive – the only other play was a Chappelow to Luke Jackson 9-yard, fourth-down conversion pass and catch that set up Martin’s second touchdown.
“We’ve always talked about every game how we can’t come out flat in the second half,” said Martin. “We have to keep doing the same thing, if not better. We have to keep hitting, keep running, keep blocking and doing everything we do two times harder than we did in the first quarter.”
Martin was the offensive star because he helped keep the clock moving. Axel Conover (photo, with ball) and Brinkman combined for 14 catches and 107 yards as well. But the defense was impressive in the second half and finished with 11 quarterback sacks in the win.
“We talked about be relentless, be relentless, be relentless,” said Fitzgerald. “We were talking to our secondary guys how we are going to get there quick and you just need to stay on top.”
Shelbyville will face its toughest test of the season in week five with a road trip to Class 4A, No. 7 Greenfield-Central (4-0, 2-0 HHC), who defeated previously-unbeaten Pendleton Heights Friday, 43-38. The Cougars are averaging 47.5 points per game this season.
Shelbyville had won three games over the last five seasons. Now they have won three games in four weeks and are guaranteed to have a winning record for its Homecoming celebration on Sept. 22.
“The big thing is, the work isn’t done,” said Fitzgerald. “Yes, we are 3-1 and I am excited about that. The kids are excited about that. I feel great for these kids.
“As a whole, we are continuing to try and build a program. We have to continue on that path that this is great. We went 1-0 this week. Now, we have another opponent coming next week. We are going to celebrate this win. We deserve to celebrate this win but we are going to move on and try and go 1-0 next week.”
Steve Bush photos.
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