SHELBY — Brady Bowman welcomes opposing defenses who play man-to-man coverage.
In fact, Shelby’s junior wide receiver said he sees it as an advantage for himself. His numbers support that.
Bowman caught six passes for 209 yards Friday night in Shelby’s (7-0, 4-0) 52-14 blowout of Clear Fork (5-2, 3-1) on Homecoming. The win puts the Whippets in sole possession of first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
“I think our offense knows that we’re really good against man coverage and Brayden (DeVito) put the ball where it needed to be tonight and we executed well,” Bowman said.
One of the fastest athletes on the field at any given time, Bowman scored on receptions of 41 and 80 yards. He also recovered his own fumble for a TD during a 65-yard sprint to the end zone.
To top things off, Bowman returned an interception 65 yards for a score on the defensive side of the ball. When asked what motivated his play Friday night, the junior simply said he’s hungry for a conference championship.
“We really want this title. We’ve been playing hard, practicing good every week and executing well,” Bowman said.
Shelby defense continues dominance
In its past 12 quarters of football, Shelby has surrendered just 14 points to its opponents.
The Whippets entered Friday’s game against Clear Fork coming off two straight shutouts over Highland and River Valley.
“They play with their hair on fire,” Shelby coach Rob Mahaney said of the Whippet defense. “We’re getting into the rhythm now to understand that we’ve played in some big games, but at the end of the day we have to play team defense.
“We have a ton of really good football players individually and sometimes we want to rely on that, but the past three weeks they have bought in to doing their job and playing Shelby Whippet defense.”
Along with Bowman’s pick-six, Shelby scored a second TD defensively when senior Carter Kessler, who recently committed to West Virginia University, forced a fumble which was scooped and scored by Sam Gwirtz.
Shelby forced the Colts to turn the ball over four total times and gave up just 45 passing yards from Clear Fork quarterback Marcus Hoeflich. The Colts were able to pile up 237 total rushing yards.
Both of Clear Fork’s two scores came on the ground from Hoeflich on runs of 27 and 7 yards.
Whippets rack up nearly 500 yards on offense
Clear Fork entered the Week 7 matchup boasting one of the stingiest defenses in the region, allowing just 10.3 points a game.
The Colts stymied Marion Harding in last week’s 31-7 victory, while surrendering less than 150 total yards. It was a different story against Shelby.
The Whippets totaled 256 yards through the air and 210 on the ground.
“I thought our kids took the challenge head on,” Mahaney said. “We had a great week of practice and we came out here and played really well.”
Senior quarterback and Air Force commit Brayden DeVito completed 9-of-14 passes for 256 yards and three TDs, along with one interception. On the ground, DeVito rushed for 130 yards and a pair of scores.
Gavin Baker averaged over five yards per carry for the Whippets, rushing eight times for 48 yards and a TD.
Besides Bowman, three other Whippets caught one pass each, including Kessler, Landon Foltz and Avery Lambert.
Next up for Shelby is a trip to Ontario (4-3, 2-2). The Warriors beat Marion Harding 28-14 on Friday.
Clear Fork will host Highland (2-5, 1-3) in Week 8. The Fighting Scots fell 14-6 to River Valley on Friday.
Below are more photos from Friday’s game between the Whippets and the Colts. Credit: Hayden Gray
Below are photos of Friday night’s halftime performances from Clear Fork and Shelby. Credit: Hayden Gray
