Shelbyville Dragons Stadium on Friday, September 22, 2023 –
The Shelbyville Dragons varsity football team started District 11 2A-1 conference play with a 48-14 home win over the Joaquin Rams on Friday. The win puts Shelbyville’s season mark at 3-1 and Joaquin falls to 0-4.
The Rams won the coin toss but opted to kick the ball to the Dragons to begin the game. Dylan Parker returned the Ram’s kickoff to five yards past midfield at the Joaquin 45-yard line. Six plays later Dragons quarterback DJ Barnes found Parker for a 6-yard touchdown reception. Parker kicked the extra point through the uprights to give SHS a 7-0 point advantage at the 9 minute mark of the first quarter.
An excellent Tate Bass kick return set Joaquin up at the Joaquin 45-yardline to start their first drive. The Rams went 55-yards in nine plays and capped the drive with an 18-yard Elijah Hardison touchdown run. The extra point conversion attempt failed and JHS trailed 7-6 with 4:02 left in the first period.
Three minutes later Barnes found Parker for another touchdown reception, a 28-yarder and gave the Dragons a 14-6 advantage with 1:13 left in the first frame. Joaquin answered with a long drive of their own but a one-handed-diving interception by Dylan Parker gave the Dragons possession of the football early in the second quarter of play. This possession eventually led to a 27-yard touchdown reception from Barnes to Parker which gave SHS a 21-6 advantage with 6:48 left in the second stanza. Barnes added a 21-yard keeper run for a score later in the second frame to help give the Dragons a 28-6 lead at the midway break.
With 9:15 left in the third quarter Tate Bass scored on a 9-yard touchdown run, and also a 2-point conversion run, to cut the Dragon’s lead to 28-14.
Shelbyville would gain the final score of the third frame when Barnes scored on a keeper run with 4:31 remaining. The Dragons led 34-14 going into the final period.
The fourth quarter saw SHS extend their lead to 41-14 after another Barnes keeper for a score and a Parker extra point kick with 9:36 remaining. The Rams next possession ended with them turning the ball over on downs with 4:40 remaining. Barnes added a 48-yard touchdown for the final score of the contest with 3:19 left to extend the Dragons lead to 48-14.
The Rams will next host the Garrison Bulldogs. The game will kick off at Rams Stadium on Friday, September 29, 2023 at 7 p.m. Garrison is 1-0 in District 11 after a 64-0 home win over the West Sabine Tigers which boosted the Bulldogs season record to 5-0.
The Dragons will enjoy a bye week and will face the Garrison Bulldogs at Garrison on Friday, October 6 at 7 p.m.
