ONTARIO — Shelby quarterback McGwire Albert is having a big senior season, and he had another big game in Friday night’s 42-7 victory at Ontario.
But the 6-foot-5, 215-pounder was overshadowed by his “little” brother at Copeland Field.
Junior defensive end Marek Albert registered an incredible six sacks while living in the Warriors backfield, wrecking Ontario’s offense in the process.
“This was a proud big-brother moment tonight,” McGwire Albert said.
Just a junior, Marek Albert now has 11 sacks through the first four games of the season.
“I was able to use my speed to set up some power moves and the coaches called some stunts,” Marek Albert said. “I thought we practiced really well this week.”
With Marek Albert bringing constant heat far right side of the Shelby defense, Ontario never threatened to score offensively. The only dent came on senior Tytus Nameni’s 54-yard pick-6 in the fourth quarter, after the issue was decided.
“Marek is a heckuva player,” Shelby coach Robert Mahaney said. “But a lot of credit goes to our whole defense.”
Ontario managed just 51 yards of total offense, and ran the ball 24 times for minus-56 yards.
“They just created a ton of pressure on us,” Ontario coach Chris Miller said. “They posed some mismatch problems for us.”
That was true all over the field.
Offensively, Shelby began the game pounding away wither running back Owen Fisher. When the Warriors adjusted by bringing another defender closer to the line of scrimmage, the Whippets began bombing away.
That meant it was big brother’s turn. McGwire Albert 14-of-23 passing for 273 yards and four TDs. His scoring strikes went for 2 yards to Andre Hill, 40 and 60 yards to Grant Gossom, and 57 yards to Cody Lantz.
“Grant’s explosive,” Mahaney said. “He’s a track guy and he’s making big plays for us.”
Fisher finished with 15 carries for 150 yards and touchdown runs of 29 and 20 yards.
This was Shelby’s first game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, and Maheny’s team was in control throughout. The Whippets enjoyed a 14-0 first-quarter lead and a 35-0 halftime bulge. That led to a running clock throughout the second half, and continued as the margin grew to 42-0 entering the final period.
“It was good to play Ontario, a team we have a history with and it’s close for a lot of our fans,” Mahaney said.
Shelby improves to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in the MOAC heading into Friday night’s home game with perennial powerhouse Marion Plesant.
Ontario falls to 2-2 overall, 0-1 in the MOAC. Miller’s squad travels to Norwalk next week.
“That was not a fun halftime locker room when you’re down 35-0,” Miller said. “Our kids were frustrated but we told them they couldn’t feel sorry for themselves. Shelby wasn’t feeling sorry for us.
“That’s a tough situation, but I thought we played better in the second half.”
