Shelby County Today

October 5,2016 - All five Shelby County varsity football teams will be in district competition this week. The Center Roughriders will be trying to go 3-0 in District 9 4A after defeating Palestine 20-17 last week. The ‘Riders are now 4-2 overall and will face the Chapel Hill Bulldogs, at Roughriders Stadium, this Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs are 1-5 and lost at home to Kilgore last Friday by a 36-7 score.

The Joaquin Rams had a bye last week. They will face the Alto Yellowjackets, at Joaquin’s Rams Stadium, this Friday at 7:30 p.m. Joaquin is 3-2 and this will be their first District 11 2A-1 contest. Alto is 4-1 and last beat Rusk 26-21 on September 23.

The Shelbyville Dragons are 1-4 and will be starting District 11 2A-1 play at home against San Augustine. SHS had a bye last week. San Augustine is 3-2 and last beat Burkeville 49-0 at home on September 23.

The Tenaha Tigers are 5-0 and also had a bye last Friday. The Tigers will begin District 11 2A-2 competition, at Mount Enterprise, this Friday at 7 p.m. Mount Enterprise is 1-4 and last lost at Big Sandy by a 51-0 margin, on September 23.

The Timpson Bears are 2-2 and had a bye week last Friday. The Bears start District 11 2A-2 competition this Friday when Wortham comes to Timpson for the Bears homecoming contest. Kick off will be at 7 p.m. Wortham is 3-2 and lost to Granger, two weeks ago, by a 43-20 score.

October 2, 2016 - The Center Roughriders improved their District 9 4A record to 2-0 with a 20-17 road win over the Palestine Wildcats varsity football team last Friday. Center is now 4-2 overall. The ‘Riders have won three straight games. Palestine is 3-3, on the season, and have a 0-2 conference mark. They have lost three consecutive games.

Palestine took a 7-0 lead when quarterback Claude Rodgers connected with Tyler Gray on a slant pass and Gray then sprinted 61 yards for a touchdown with 9:33 left in the first quarter. The drive by the Wildcats had earlier stalled, before the score, as PHS was stopped for a 1-yard gain, on a fourth-and-2 at the Palestine 34-yard line, but Center was called for being offsides, thus keeping the drive alive with a first down.

On the next play from scrimmage a pass by Parks deflected off the hands of receiver Octavius Evans leading to an interception by Palestine's Kameron Hamilton at the Center 35-yard line. Edward Reese later scored from 9 yards out to give Palestine a 14-0 lead with 6:58 remaining in the opening period. Center had no first downs and minus-3 yards in the first quarter.

Center marched 71 yards, on their first drive of the second stanza. Sadarion Walker capped the march with a spinning one-handed catch for a 21-yard touchdown pass from Parks. Center trailed 14-7 after Marcos Lopez added an extra point kick.

Just before halftime Center successfully covered 57 yards on four plays. On the second play, Octavius Evans caught a pass from quarterback Kyle Parks for a 40-yard gain to the Palestine 3-yard line. Parks later ran in for a 1-yard score as time expired to tie up the game at halftime at 14-14.

After each team gave up a fumble, on their opening drives of the second half, Lopez gave Center the lead at 17-14 with a 34-yard field goal with 6:09 left in the third quarter. Palestine countered with a 22-yard field goal by Edgar Ayala with 3:05 left, which tied the game at 17-17, in the third quarter that was set up by a 56-yard run by Irric Deyon.

Palestine had an opportunity to gain momentum when Quinn Tinley intercepted a Parks pass with 56 seconds left in the third quarter. The next Palestine drive stalled at the Center 27-yard line, and rather than have Ayala attempt a 44-yard field goal on a fourth-and-9 a fake was run, but Tyler Gray was stopped for a 3-yard run by Adrian Johnson, who had a huge game with 11 tackles, five of them for losses with four sacks.

Center scored on a 33-yard field goal by Marcos Lopez with 5:42 remaining that was set-up by a 35-yard pass from Kyle Parks to Octavious Evans. This gave CHS their final 20-17 scoring advantage.

Palestine’s next drive ended on its own 49-yard line with 2:15 when Center linebacker Adrian Johnson tackled Irric Deyon for a 2-yard gain, on a pass play, on a fourth-and-4. Palestine got the ball back with 1:12 left in the game, after a 36-yard punt by Lopez pinned the Wildcats at their own 6-yard line.

Center gained 342 total yards on offense. The ‘Riders gained 173 yards rushing and 169 passing.

Kyle Parks has now completed 82 passes on 136 attempts this season for nine touchdowns and 1087 yards.

The ‘Riders next contest is a home game, next Friday, against Chapel Hill on Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. The CHHS Bulldogs are 1-5 and lost to Kilgore last Friday by a 36-7 margin.

September 27, 2016 - The annual Timpson ISD Pink Game is scheduled for Oct. 21, 2016.

September 26, 2016 – The Lovelady Lions varsity football team shut out the Timpson Bears by a 27-0 score. The Bears loss came at home, at John Herbert Eakin Stadium, last Friday. Lovelady had a 14-0 lead by the conclusion of the first period and held the Bears to 12 yards of offense on their first three possessions.

Penalties, interceptions, and fumbles, which caused the Bears to fall on the football in their own backfield, resulted in negative yardage, costing the Bears any chance they had to claw their way back into the football game.

Devon Hammock kicked two second quarter field goals, from 19 and 20-yards out, to give the Lions a 20-0 lead at the midway break.

Lions’ receiver Lee Holsey caught an 11-yard touchdown with 7:11 left in the contest for the game’s final score.

The Bears were 3/11 passing, for four net yards, and had two interceptions. Lovelady was 5/19 passing for 98 yards. Timpson rushed for 93 yards on the night and had 97 total offensive yards gained. The Lions rushed for 158 yards and had 256 total yards of offense. LHS had ten first downs. Timpson gained seven first downs. Lovelady had 40 yards of penalties, while Timpson amassed 63 yards.

Timpson is now 2-2 and they have an open week for this Friday. THS will next play the Wortham Bulldogs, at JH Eakin Stadium in Timpson, on October 7, at 7 p.m. This game will begin District 11 2A play for both teams.

District 11 has several teams with similar records who will be competing for four conference playoff positions. Timpson and the Grapeland Sandies each have a 2-2 record. The Mount Enterprise Wildcats are close behind at 1-4. The Wortham Bulldogs have a 3-2 mark, the Overton Mustangs a 3-1 standing, and the neighboring Tenaha Tigers have an unblemished 5-0 record.