MARION — Shelby’s dazzling football season rolled through St. Mary’s Memorial with the usual suspects playing their usual roles in Friday night’s Division IV regional semifinal.
Then there was senior defensive back/slotback Brady Hill. The 5-foot-10, 155-pounder is easy to overlook among the towering Whippets. But he consistently stung the Roughriders on both sides of the ball during a 47-7 pounding in frigid conditions at Marion’s Grant Middle School.
Hill caught the first TD of the night, a 16-yard strike from Brennan Armstrong for his offensive ante. He then tacked on two interceptions, four tackles and a pass breakup to spearhead a stingy defense.
“That’s Brady, he’s a Jack-of-all-Trades,” Shelby coach Erik Will said. “He’s our Energizer Bunny. He’s all over the field. I think kickoff is the only time he’s not out there.”
Hill is one of the coach’s favorites, tough as nails and maybe even sharper. Two of the three plays noted above were improvisational moments that coaches hope their players can recognize and react accordingly. Hill did exactly that in each situation.
The first was supposed to be a third-down pass with his route angling on the outside.
“I went up to Brennan before the play and told him I could beat that guy up the seam,” Hill said. “He put it on me, right on the inside. He trusts me.”
The second was one of Hill’s two picks. He has nine interceptions for the season and showed his range and ball skills on a bomb that had six written all over it.
“(St. Mary’s) had four verticals,” Will explained of the Roughriders’ pass routes. “We only had three back. Brady was covering up two guys and he made a break on the ball. That play should’ve gone for a touchdown for them. Instead it’s a turnover for us.”
Normally it’s Armstrong, a Minnesota recruit and arguably the best quarterback in Ohio, gutting opponents. He did his thing in this one too, albeit not without a few foibles. Armstrong accounted for a whopping six touchdowns (four of them on the ground). The 6-foot-2 lefty tossed two touchdown passes in the first half and ran for four scores after intermission. He posted 174 yards yards rushing as the Whippets racked up 411 yards on the ground.
However, he also tossed a pair of interceptions and fumbled twice, Shelby recovered both times.
“Brennan has been doing it for four years. There’s a reason he’s a Division I recruit,” Will said. “It didn’t matter that he threw two interceptions. With him it’s on to the next play.”
The Whippets (12-0) raced to a 20-0 lead, but those interceptions kept St. Mary’s within 20-7 at halftime. The first pick came off a screen play that was returned to the 11. The Roughriders pounded it in midway through the second quarter for their only score of the night.
Shelby’s defense was stifling after that, and Armstrong exploded for four TD bolts in the second half from 32, 2, 3 and 36 yards to start the running clock. The Whippets have forced a running clock in every game during this incredible season.
“That is a loaded football team” said St. Mary’s coach Doug Frye, a former head coach at Bucyrus. “They definitely exposed every weakness we had.
“They’ve had 12 running clocks. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before.”
Senior halfback Devon Brooks was spectacular, too. He piled up 210 yards on just 15 carries with a touchdown rushing and one receiving. His 55-yard return of the second-half kickoff set up a short field and a quick score that put the Whippets in total control.
“Devon Brooks is the best running back in the history of this program,” Will said. “He’s pushing 4,500 yards for his career. The last two games he has really run hard.”
Defensively, Tristan Reed compiled 16 tackles, Dane Biglin chipped in 13 stops, while Carter Brooks added 10 and a sack. Uriah Schwemley was in on nine hits, too.
St. Mary’s finished with 202 total yards, 158 of them on 44 rushing attempts. But the Roughriders could not come up with a big play and a weak passing game gave them little chance to rally.
The victory sends Shelby into next week’s regional final against Bellevue, an ancient rival that it blasted 46-0 on Sept. 19 at W.W. Skiles Field. The Redmen advanced by nipping Clear Fork 20-13 at Arlin Field.
This time the longtime Northern Ohio League rivals will meet for a regional championship.
“We were here last year,” Hill said. “We came up short that time. A lot of guys on this team played in that game. They’re ready to get after it again.”
St. Mary’s finished the season 10-2. The Western Buckeye League champions were riding a 10-game winning streak after falling to Sidney 39-32 in the season opener. Frye said Shelby has a great chance to go all the way.
“They’re big, they’re well-coached, they have great skill players,” Frye said.
