SHELBY — Casey Lantz secured his place in Shelby football lore on Friday night.
A junior, Lantz booted a 21-yard field goal as time expired to propel the Whippets to a thrilling, 10-7 win over Madison in the final game at W.W. Skiles Field.
With the score tied 7-7 and the clock winding down, Shelby drove inside the Madison 5-yard line. The Rams held firm, however, forcing the Whippets to attempt a game-winning field goal with two seconds remaining.
Lantz confidently knocked the ball through the uprights out of the hold of Nic Eyster, sparking a wild celebration along the Shelby sideline that quickly spilled onto the field.
“It was definitely a lot of pressure,” said Lantz, who has hit from 50 yards in practice but had never attempted a field goal in a game until Friday. “There’s really no time in a tie game (and) it’s off the hash. It’s a tough kick and a ton of pressure.”
Lantz accounted for all 10 of Shelby’s points Friday. He hauled in a 65-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Brayden DeVito with 1:36 remaining in the third quarter and kicked the extra point to give Shelby a 7-0 lead.
What’s more, Lantz didn’t start taking reps at the receiver spot until earlier in the week. He was one of a handful of players involved in a preseason quarterback competition.
“He lost the quarterback job earlier this week and immediately (he asked), ‘What can I do to help this football team?’ He moved to receiver and bought into the kicking role and made two huge kicks for us to win this game.
“You couldn’t be happier for a kid like that who understands the team aspect and the sacrifices it takes.”
Lantz was glad to do it.
“I really thought if I’m not going to (play quarterback), I really need to do something to help the team,” Lantz said. “If they’re not going to use me there, then I can definitely do something else to help the team and it paid off tonight.”
Neither team could get anything going during a scoreless first half. The defensive struggle continued deep into the third quarter before Lantz got loose behind the Madison secondary and DeVito hit him in stride for what proved to be Shelby’s final touchdown scored at Skiles Field.
“It was a good play call and the safety came screaming down and left me wide open,” Lantz said. “It was a good read by the quarterback.”
The athletic DeVito came on in relief of starting QB Landon Kennard in the first half. DeVito rushed for a game-high 107 yards on 19 carries while completing 9-of-19 passes for 140 yards.
“We went to Brayden because what he can do with his legs helps this football team. They were getting a lot of pressure on us early and we thought his legs could help us,” Mahaney said. “I didn’t think it was any more evident than on that last drive when he had three or four big scrambles where he’s able to make guys miss and do things that the other quarterbacks couldn’t do.
“The guy I heard cheering loudest on the sideline for Brayden DeVito was Landon Kennard. That’s a special moment as a coach, to see these kids buy in.”
The Rams, who lost to Shelby 55-6 during a winless 2021 campaign, put themselves in a position to win in coach Scott Valentine’s debut. Madison tied the score at 7-7 early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Cameron Kuhn threw a strike to Will Kepple for a 6-yard touchdown.
“It took us a little while to get a few things going offensively, but defensively I thought we did a lot of good things,” said Scott Valentine, who coached at Ashland from 2002 to 2018. “They kept battling for four quarters. I thought they battled and battled and gave us an opportunity to win.
“I told our kids we are real close right now. We’ve just got to make that jump.”
While the loss was disappointing, Valentine was glad to take part in the historic night.
“There were so many great games here and even I had some (as Ashland’s coach),” Valentine said. “I told our kids coming in to take in the atmosphere because this is the kind of atmosphere you want to be in.”
Mahaney was just glad to see the Whippets win the final game at a field they have called home since 1928. Hundreds of former players were in attendance and gathered with the team outside the locker room before the game.
“It was a surreal feeling for me … It was as cool of a Shelby moment as I’ve got to experience,” Mahaney said. “We asked the kids to do one thing and that is to play as hard as they can for this moment.
“I don’t think anybody that was here, any alumni watching, would doubt our effort tonight.”
