The South Shelby defense had the Trenton Bulldogs’ offense timed to perfection Friday night at C.F. Russell Stadium, jumping into the backfield almost before quarterback Jacob Spillman had the ball in his hands. The constant disruption in the backfield showed on the scoreboard as Trenton was shut out in the season-opener, 20-0.
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“They had a pretty good game plan coming in where they were trying to blitz off our motion and they did a good job of timing it,” Trenton Head Coach Wes Croy said. “At the same time, our offensive line has got to be able to step to their gap and pick people up. I give them credit for being successful in what they were trying to do, but I also feel like if our offensive line recognized a little quicker and stepped to the right place, then those gaps they were coming through would be filled up.”
Trenton came into the opener with high hopes and optimism after a strong showing in the jamboree. But only the defense carried that success over into the first game of the season. Trenton’s defense matched South Shelby throughout the first half as the game was a war waged between the 35-yard lines. The Cardinals managed just two first downs against the Trenton defense in the entire first half and were shut out on the scoreboard.
Trenton’s offense had the best opportunity to score by either team in the first half when they used a partially blocked punt inside the last minute of the half to set up good field position. The drive nearly stalled, but a third down, 20-yard completion from Spillman to Keegan McGinness put the ball on the three-yard line with 12 seconds left. The completion was just the third first down of the game for Trenton, all three of which came late in the second quarter. Trenton’s field goal unit raced onto the field and hurriedly set up for and attempted a 20-yard field goal from the left hash. The attempt from the tough angle was partially blocked, failing with two seconds left. South Shelby kneeled once to send the game into the half at 0-0.
“We took our motion out right there and tried to run our plays without motion to throw them off their blitzes and it worked for the most part,” Croy said. “We were able to move the ball as well as we did all night. Keegan just ran a sideline route and we got good protection. We feel like throughout the game if we could have gotten that kind of protection we could have been more successful throwing the ball. Of course we didn’t make the field goal there at the end of the half, but we did do a good job of putting ourselves in position to score.”
In the third quarter the game swung to South Shelby’s favor as the Cardinals dominated the time of possession and kept the Trenton defense on the field for nearly the entire frame. A broken play led to the first score of the game for the Cardinals, after Shawn Bertrand raced 53 yards for the touchdown. Trenton blocked the point-after attempt, leaving the South Shelby lead at 6-0. South Shelby struck paydirt once again in the third quarter, this time on a two-yard run by Bertrand.
The final score of the game came in the fourth quarter when Bertrand visited the end zone for a third time, this one coming on a plunge from one yard out. Trenton was able to draw a couple of encroachment penalties against the jumping defense, but it was too little too late as the Bulldogs fell by the 20-0 margin.
“There is no question the defense played hard and they played well,” Croy said. “The offense just didn’t give them a chance to ever catch their breath. That is something we have to address because the defense definitely played well enough for us to win. That was our concern after the jamboree and unfortunately it wasn’t where it needed to be. That is what we will focus on this week.”
Trenton finished with just six first downs and 106 total yards, but South Shelby’s offensive numbers were sub-par as well. The Cardinals had just 11 first downs in the game and went for 245 yards of total offense.
Trenton also was hit with a key loss early in the game when Dakota Galvin went down with a lower leg injury. Galvin is out for an undisclosed period of time, but early indications are not good.
Trenton was already without Tommy Kincaid, who sat out the game after minor surgery and Wyatt Coffman, yet another lineman, suffered an injury as well.
“Hopefully we heal up,” Croy said. “Right now it looks like we have lost one player for an extended amount of time and with a couple of others we don’t know if we are going to have them back this week or not. We have to have some kids step up and be ready to play.”
Trenton, now 0-1 on the season, will look to get back on track Friday night as they face Carrollton on the road at 7 p.m. The game starts a four-game road swing for the Bulldogs.
Statistics
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Third Quarter
SS – Shawn Bertrand 53-yard run (kick blocked)
SS – Bertrand 2-yard run (Bertrand kick)
Fourth Quarter
SS – Bertrand 1-yard run (Bertrand kick)
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TEAM STATISTICS
THS SSHS
First downs 6 11
Rushes-yards 31-71 38-147
Passing Yds. 35 98
Comp-Att-Int 4-13-0 8-21-0
Total Yds. 106 245
Penalties-yards 3-35 2-15
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Trenton, Keegan McGinness, 6-27; Clay Oneal, 8-27; Dillon Triplet, 2-12; Jacob Spillman, 15-5. South Shelby, Shawn Bertrand, 21-122; Austin Hall, 10-28; Alex Blackford, 5-8; David Heathman, 2-(-11). Passing – Trenton, Spillman, 4-13-0, 35 yards. South Shelby, Heathman, 8-21-0, 98 yards. RECEIVING — Trenton, McGinness, 1-28; Austin Taul, 2-7; Tyler Gray, 1-0. South Shelby, Wes Mefford, 3-47; Hall, 2-28; Andrew Delana, 1-20; Bertrand, 2-3. INTERCEPTIONS – Trenton, none. South Shelby, none. PUNTING – Trenton, Vandevender, 8-317, 39.6 avg. South Shelby, Bertrand, 7-190, 27.1 avg. PUNT RETURNS – Trenton, McGinness, 1-2; Freddie Pannell, 1-0. South Shelby, Delana, 1-3; Hall, 1-0. KICK RETURNS – Trenton, Chanse Houghton, 1-14; Taul, 1-11. South Shelby, Bertrand, 1-30. DEFENSE – Trenton, James Fairchild, 12 tackles, 1 TFL; Pannell, 11 tackles, 4 TFL; Tyler Carpenter, 8 tackles, 1 TFL; Morgan Schelker, 7 tackles, 3 TFL; Dalton Burkeybile, 7 tackles; Oneal, 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Colby Larson, 5 tackles; Jacob Meservey, 4 tackles, 1 TFL; Josh Davis, 4 tackles; Dane Stiles, 2 tackles; Austin Taul 2 tackles; Gray, 1 tackle, 1 fumble recovery; Spillman, 1 tackle; Seth Acton, 1 tackle; Triplet, 1 tackle.