SHELBY — Skyler Winters lit the fuse Friday night.
Better known for his offensive exploits as Shelby’s hard-charging feature back, Winters returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown from his linebacker spot early in the third quarter and the Whippets captured a share of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference crown with a 23-0 win over Pleasant.
Shelby (8-2, 6-1) shared the MOAC title with Ontario. The Warriors (9-1, 6-1) beat Highland 34-20 on Friday night.
Shelby won MOAC title in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The Whippets tied for fourth last fall.
“It feels great,” Winters said. “When I played my sophomore year we won that conference championship … It feels great to win another.”
The Whippets sleep-walked through the first half and led 3-0 at the break thanks to a 22-yard Casey Lantz field goal midway through the second quarter. A constant rain and blustery conditions conspired against both teams.
“Give some credit to Pleasant. They did some good things,” Shelby coach Rob Mahaney said. “The weather obviously didn’t help.”
Pleasant (6-4, 4-3) received the second-half kickoff and advanced the ball to the 39, but a holding penalty and back-to-back sacks backed the Spartans up to their own 14-yard line. On third-and-35, quarterback Owen Lowry tried to throw a a short pass across the middle, but Winters stepped in front of the intended receiver and raced to the end zone with a much-needed wake-up call.
“I came out in the first half and wasn’t doing so hot,” Winters said. “The coaches were trying to cycle me in (on defense). That was the whole plan, to get me that pick. We weren’t expecting a pick-six out of it, though, so it was great.”
Seizing on the momentum, Shelby scored on its next two possessions. Sophomore quarterback Brayden DeVito ran for a 6-yard TD to make it 16-0 with 4:36 remaining in the third quarter and added a 15-yarder for a 23-0 lead with 27 seconds to play in the period.
“It feels like we come out after halftime and played really well as a football team,” Mahaney said. “It’s something we’ve got to continue to do.
Pleasant’s best scoring opportunity came early in the fourth quarter, but the Spartans turned the ball over on downs at the Shelby 29-yard line with 8:53 remaining. The Whippets preserved the shutout with another fourth-down stop with 2:08 remaining.
The shutout was the first for Shelby since Week 3 of the 2018 season.
“I told our guys that good, great and now championship football teams find a way to win and that’s what we did tonight,” Mahaney said. “To get rewarded in a championship game and get a shutout, it’s pretty special.”
With the win, Shelby locked up a top-four seed in Division IV, Region 14. The Whippets are in line to host two playoff games.
Playoff seeds and first-round pairings will be announced by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Sunday.