SHELBY — After watching Lexington rush for 434 yards last week in a win against Ontario, Shelby coach Rob Mahaney challenged his team to “answer the call” on Friday night.
The Whippets answered it, hung it up and then ripped it from the wall, completely shutting down the Minutemen ground game in a 42-14 win at Skiles Field.
“We heard all week how good their running attack was. We knew we had to step up and stop it,” said Mahaney, who is 2-0 in his first year at Shelby after six years at Mapleton, a run that included the school’s only two playoff wins.
Lexington senior Kaydan Berry, who rushed for 300 yards in the opener, found no room to operate against a swarming Shelby defense.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound running back finished with a net gain of 38 yards on 12 carries, including a 40-yard TD in the fourth quarter after the game was decided.
“I thought we did a good job of slowing Kaydan down to the best of our ability,” Mahaney said. “He still had a great run because he is a great football player. But our kids answered the call and I thought we played pretty well.”
Mahaney, the son-in-law of Ashland University coach Lee Owens, praised the work of his defensive coordinator, Jon Amicone.
“I thought Jon did a really good jon of putting our kids in the right positions. Obviously, we have to win those blocks. We tried to bounce everything. Our kids did a good job of making the tackles when the plays spilled,” Mahaney said.
Lexington coach Tim Scheid said his offense could find no answers.
“I just think it was their personnel up front we couldn’t handle,” the first-year head coach said. “Their down linemen were plugging the holes. We just couldn’t get up to the second level, we couldn’t get to the linebackers and their safeties were just screaming downhill.
“They committed everyone to stopping the run and they were successful,” Scheid said.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: For the second straight week, Shelby had no problem putting points on the board. The Whippets hung 50 on Madison in the season opener.
This time senior QB McGwire Albert tossed five TD passes for the Whippets, including two to Blaine Bowman (33 yards, 12 yards), two to running back Owen Fisher (32 yards, 73 yards) and one to Evan Bogner (22 yards).
Albert completed nine of 24 passes for 262 yards.
The 6-5, 215-pound Albert also rushed for 67 yards on just six attempts. Fisher, a 5-7, 170-pound junior, ran for 102 yards on 15 carries and has six TDs in just two games.
“We knew we were going to have to throw the ball this week the way (Lexington) plays their defense,” Mahaney said. “We had some matchups we liked. (Albert) did a good job of staying in command and putting the ball where it needed to be.
“We have a lot of good receivers on this team. I thought that would be our strength coming into the season,” Mahaney said.
The Whippets drove quickly on their first possession, taking a 6-0 on the pass to Bogner with less than two minutes off the clock. Lexington struck back quickly when Berry connected on a 73-yard TD on a halfback pass to receiver Alex Dixon, good for a 7-6 lead just 18 seconds later.
Any Lexington momentum was then erased when Shelby’s Grant Gossman took the ensuing kickoff back 98 yards for a TD, putting the Whippets ahead, 13-7, with still 9:42 left in the first quarter.
Shelby never trailed again.
“Other than that cheap trick play at the beginning, we played really well,” Mahaney said. “We had to stop their run and we did it. The kickoff return for a touchdown was huge. It settled everyone down and we were able to play defense the rest of the game.”
Scheid said film study awaits his staff and players.
“We just couldn’t get anything going on offense. No momentum, no traction at all. That’s something we are going to have to look at on film and correct. Give them a lot of credit. They did a great job up front with their defense stopping what we did.”
One bright spot on offense for Lexington was sophomore QB Cole Pauley, who completed 15 of 24 passes for 146 yards in only his second varsity start.
“We knew coming out of halftime (trailing 22-7), we were going to have to let (Pauley) grow. He made some good reads. He made some bad ones. That’s something that will improve as he gains more experience. I am pleased with his performance.”
UP NEXT: Shelby, which has outscored its first two opponents 92-28, travels outside the area next Friday night to take on Sunbury Big Walnut (1-1). The Eagles defeated Buckeye Valley, 48-20, in week two after losing the season opener 21-7 to Johnstown Monroe.
Lexington hosts Clear Fork (1-1) next Friday. The Colts saw their 21-game regular season win streak snapped at home in week two, losing to Granville 21-7. It was Clear Fork’s first regular-season loss since Week 10 of the 2016 season.
“You will see two teams hungry and angry for what just happened to them,” Scheid said. “Both teams will be licking their wounds. It’s gonna be a fight.”
