Shelby overcomes muddy conditions to fly past Clear Fork, 28-7

SHELBY — Not even a muddy runway could completely ground the high-flying, aerial game of the Shelby Whippets on Friday night.

Did we say mud? We meant mud. A lot of mud at W.W. Skiles Field, a grass surface that fell victim to heavy, day-long rains before the game started.

Despite the sloppy conditions, senior quarterback Marshall Shepherd completed 16-of-25 passes for 268 yards and also ran for three touchdowns as Shelby knocked off Clear Fork 28-7 in the first-round of the expanded OHSAA state football playoffs.

The win moves Shelby (9-2) into the Division III, Region 14, quarterfinals. The Whippets, the region’s No. 7 seed, will travel to No. 2-seed Clyde (9-2) next Friday night. The Fliers overpowered Galion 56-7 in the first round.

Clyde is the highest-remaining seed in the region after No.-16 seed Milan Edison (6-5) shocked top-rated Bellevue 23-22 in the first round of the postseason Friday night.

Clear Fork, with just seven seniors on its roster, finished its season 6-5, ending the year with three straight losses.

Slip, sliding away

Shelby coach Rob Mahaney, whose team rolled past Clear Fork by 30 points in the regular-season finale, admitted the slippery surface made life tougher on his Whippets’ offense.

“We didn’t handle some of the rain with the mud. Our footballs were coming in a little bit wet. We made some adjustments and I thought we threw the ball a lot better in the second half. Offensively, it’s just tough in the mud,” Mahaney said.

Shelby-Clear Fork box score

Shepherd averaged 365 yards and four TDs a game through the air during the regular season.

It’s not that the mud made life unpassable, but Shelby sophomore running back Skyler Winters played a more important role than normal, rushing for 110 yards on 14 carries, including a 30-yard TD dash to open the scoring with 4:19 left in the first quarter.

Winters was backed up by scoring runs of 2, 2 and 10 yards from Shepherd. the last coming with 5:31 left to play to clinch the win.

“We relied a lot on Skyler and I thought he played fantastic,” Mahaney said. “The good news is he is a sophomore, so he’ll be back with us for two more years.”

Crossing routes through the Clear Fork secondary were open much of the evening. Senior wide receiver Blaine Bowman (9 catches, 135 yards) took the most advantage.

Mahaney said his team’s offense is built around the crossing patterns.

“We’re going to work as a scheme on one side of the field and we’re going to cross that guy over to find the window. Blaine Bowman is fantastic at finding those windows and holes,” Mahaney said.

An extra week

Clear Fork coach Dave Carroll, whose team started eight underclassmen on offense and nine on defense, knew his Colts faced a tough task against the three-time Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champs.

But an extra week of practice and an 11th game will assist going into the off-season.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “Anytime you get into the playoffs, you get more time together with the kids, enjoying a great sport and great camaraderie. You get more practice and time to get better.

“And, of course, when you’re playing a great team like Shelby, you have got to prepare, especially after we played them last week and it didn’t work so well. You have try some different strategies,” said Carroll, wrapping up his 13th season leading his alma mater.

Junior quarterback Victor Skoog led the Colts on the ground and through the air. He rushed 14 times for 75 yards. He also completed 9-of-22 passes for 80 yards, including a 31-yard TD to sophomore Milo Burgholder, which trimmed Shelby’s lead to 20-7 with 9:13 left in the fourth quarter.

As Carroll watched his team walk off the field for the last time, he praised the small group of seniors.

“Our seniors have been awesome all year. Tremendous leadership. The three words we live by are toughness, discipline and love. These kids, especially our senior class, definitely displayed those things this year,” Carroll said.

“They’re just a great group. We had a ball with these guys this year and they will go down as having a winning season in Clear Fork history. What we will remember as the people inside the program is how they handled the role of being seniors.

“It’s tough to watch them walk off the field for the last time,” he said. “We’re excited about the future of Clear Fork football and it’s these seniors that set the example.”

TEST AHEAD FOR SHELBY

Mahaney said Clyde poses a huge hurdle in week 12 as the two teams meet for the third consecutive year in the postseason.

Shelby beat the Fliers 28-14 last year in the third round. Clyde beat the Whippets, 35-21, in the second round in 2019, en route to winning the state title.

“I know (Clyde) is extremely well-coached. Coach (Ryan) Carter is one of the best. They are a good team year in and year out. They run their base stuff better than anybody I have ever seen. We know it’s going to be a challenge.

“We knew in February if we wanted to try and get out of this region, we we were going to have beat Clyde. We played them last year and they were junior heavy, so we knew they would have a lot coming back. I was hoping we would see them a little later than the second round, but we are going to go there and give it everything we have.

“At least it’s on turf and I am sure it will be a great football game,” Mahaney said.

We want your feedback on the accuracy and quality of this article. Take a 1 minute survey and be registered to win a $25 Visa gift card.

For statewide results and expert analysis of the best teams and prep athletes in Ohio, sign up for our free newsletter. It’s required reading for high school sports fans. This news brief was powered by ScoreStream , the world leaders in fan-driven sports results. To see more game results from your favorite team, download the ScoreStream app today.