Cards Clinch Share of Conference Title with Win Over Centralia

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By Mark Requet

  Two state ranked undefeated teams faced off as the South Shelby Cardinals, ranked seventh in Class 2, defeated the Centralia Panthers 48-14 on Friday, October 13, 2023, at South Shelby High School.

  “Huge win, just the way we fought the whole time. That is a really good football team,” said Coach Adam Gunterman, referring to Centralia. “They do a lot of really good things on both sides of the ball.”

  Centralia, ranked fourth in Class 3, opened the game with the ball first, but the drive fizzled out and it was turned over on downs at the 50-yard line.

  South Shelby’s Cameron Wiseman took the handoff for a gain of four yards, followed by a 44-yard run by Kendal Hammond to put the ball at the Centralia two-yard line. Wiseman ran it in from two yards out for the first touchdown of the game. The two-point conversion failed, and the Cardinals led 6-0 with 8:25 left in the first quarter.

  A touchback on the kickoff gave the ball to the Panthers at the 20-yard line. The South Shelby defense made its presence known, forcing the Panthers to punt after three plays. On the punt, South Shelby’s Aadon Magruder blocked the punt into the end zone, and it was recovered by Cooper Elsen for a South Shelby touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, and the Cardinals led 12-0 with 7:37 left in the first quarter.

  “Huge shout out to Coach (Jacob) Rich tonight,” stated Gunterman. “How huge was special teams all night long. They really jumped started the game with the blocked punt. Then we had a long kickoff return. Just doing things that were huge for us to be successful tonight.”

  The Panthers started at its own 20-yard line after another touchback. Centralia couldn’t move the ball and punted back to South Shelby, who took over at the Centralia 41-yard line.

  It only took four plays, highlighted by a 22-yard run by quarterback Chase Moellering, and South Shelby was back on the scoreboard. This time it was a three-yard touchdown run by Wiseman. The two-point conversion was good by Wiseman and the Cardinals led 20-0 with 3:34 left in the first quarter.

  The Panthers started at its own 20-yard line after a touchback. On the second play of the drive, the pass was intercepted by South Shelby’s Owen Stueve at the Cardinal 49-yard line.

  The Cardinals moved the ball down to the Centralia 21-yard line but turned the ball over on downs.

  The Panthers were forced to punt after three plays and Wiseman took the punt and returned it 56 yards to the Centralia 13-yard line. Two plays later, Hammond scored on a four-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion failed, and the Cardinals led 26-0 with 6:35 left in the second quarter.

  Centralia scored its first touchdown late in the second half on a 26-yard completion from quarterback Cullen Bennett to Elliott McCoy. The two-point conversion was good, and the Cardinals led 26-8 with :53 seconds left in the first half.

  South Shelby opened the second half with a 10-play drive that last about half the quarter and ended with 10-yard touchdown run by Hammond. The two-point conversion failed and the Cardinals led 32-8 with 6:38 left in the third quarter.

  Centralia’s next drive ended with an interception by Wiseman, but the Cardinals couldn’t take advantage of the turnover and punted the ball back to the Panthers.

  Centralia punted back to the into the endzone for a touchback on the next possession.

  Hammond took the handoff on the first play of the drive and broke loose down the sideline for a 80-yard touchdown as time expired in the third quarter. The two-point conversion by Hammond was good and South Shelby led 40-8 after three quarters.

  The Panthers’ next possession last 14 plays and resulted in a touchdown. The Bennett to McCoy combination worked once again, this time a 14-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed, and the lead was 40-14, in favor of South Shelby with 7:23 left in the game.

  South Shelby started its next drive at the 50-yard line. The Cardinals moved the ball down the field and scored on a six-yard touchdown run by Hammond. The two-point conversion by Wiseman was good and the Cardinals were up 48-14 with 4:11 left in the game, which was the final.

  “Our kids really showed up tonight. I couldn’t be more proud of how we played,” said Gunterman. “Defense was outstanding. There’s a reason that they are as good as they are. It’s because they work together and communicate so well. Coach (Carl) Parman does an amazing job with them.”

  Unofficially, Hammond led the Cardinals is rushing with 259 yards on 26 carries, scoring four touchdowns. Moellering finished with 54 yards on seven carries. Wiseman had 31 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns.

  Moellering completed 2-of-4 passes for 19 yards.

  The Cardinals, 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the Clarence Cannon Conference, will host Palmyra on Friday, October 20, beginning at 7 p.m.