SHELBY — Shelby’s efficient offense and suffocating defense were too much for overmatched Oberlin Firelands on Friday night.
The second-seeded Whippets jumped on the Falcons immediately and never let up to register a 42-3 victory in the Division IV, Region 14 playoff encounter.
Coach Rob Mahaney’s squad matched its average of more than 40 points per game by scoring early and often.
Less than four minutes into the game, quarterback Michael Shepherd connected with Brady Bowman for a 47-yard touchdown pass.
Firelands (7-5) responded with Landon Becker’s 22-yard field goal to slice it to 7-3, but the visitors wouldn’t dent the scoreboard again.
Shepherd’s 1-yard plunge made it 14-3 at the end of the first quarter, and the rout had begun. Gavin Baker dove in from a yard away and Everett Harris added one of his six PATs to stretch the bulge to 21-3 with just under seven minutes remaining in the half.
Shepherd hit Casyn Koch for a 15-yard TD strike and Baker’s 5-yard scoring run pushed the advantage to 35-3 at the intermission.
The third quarter began with a running clock, and it churned quickly for the rest of the game.
Shepherd’s 11-yard TD jaunt with 5:05 showing in the third period finished the scoring.
For the game, Shepherd hit 8-of-10 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. He added 31 yards and two more scores on just five carries.
Baker spearheaded the ground game by collecting 115 yards on nine carries with two TDs. Brady Bowman chipped in five catches for 90 yards and a touchdown.
Falcons’ quarterback Liam Tobicash was 19-of-39 passing for 220 yards, but also suffered two interceptions. Carson Lime had five catches for 103 yards.
But Firelands lost 12 yards rushing on 11 carries against the rugged Whippets’ defense.
Statistically, Shelby led in first downs (15-12), rushing yards (237 to minus-7) and total yards (388 to 213).
The Whippets improved to 11-0 and will host third-seeded Sandusky Perkins (11-0) next week in a battle of unbeatens. The Pirates thumped No. 6-seed Bellevue 42-14.
This was just the second meeting all-time between Shelby and Firelands. The Whippets won the first encounter in 2020 via a 49-26 result.
(Photos by Tom Theodore)
