Rebels downed by Shelbyville in regional home contest
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The Franklin County Rebels lost to the Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles 55-14 at home Friday for their fifth loss of the season.
The Golden Eagles scored the last 41 points of the regional contest as they pulled away late in the first half and continued to grow their advantage after halftime.
The Rebels had their opening possession for the game stall out at Shelbyville’s 40-yard line, and they punted the ball away, but the Golden Eagles ran into punter Webber Bradford after the kick to allow Franklin County to retain possession with a new set of downs.
Later in the same drive, Franklin County kicker Loui Arellano missed a 28-yard field goal, but the Golden Eagles hit Arellano on the play for another first down via roughing the kicker.
Eric Jones carried the ball into the end zone from five yards out on the next snap from scrimmage, and Arellano added a successful point-after attempt to give the Rebels a 7-0 lead with 4:16 left in the first quarter.
The Golden Eagles responded immediately as their first offensive snap of the game resulted in an 80-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 7-7.
Following a punt from the Rebels, the Golden Eagles drove down the field and scored another rushing touchdown to take a 14-7 lead late in the opening period.
The Rebels kept pace with Shelbyville early in the second quarter as they put together a 68-yard drive which ended in another rushing score for Jones to make it a tie game at 14-14 with nine minutes left in the first half.
The Golden Eagles continued their strong offensive start with a third straight touchdown drive to quickly pull back ahead. The Rebels blocked the ensuing point-after attempt, but Shelbyville still held a 20-14 advantage.
The Rebels were unsuccessful on their next two offensive drives as a punt and an interception led to two more scoring drives for the Golden Eagles to push the deficit up to 20 points.
The Rebels trailed 34-14 at halftime.
The Eagles picked up where they left off in the second quarter as they started the third with a 66-yard touchdown drive to put the score at 40-14.
Another punt from the Rebels led to a sixth consecutive scoring drive for the Golden Eagles as they added another rushing touchdown to make it a 48-14 game.
The Rebels turned the ball over with an interception early in the fourth quarter, and the Golden Eagles broke off a 56-yard touchdown run a few plays later for the final score of the day.
The teams traded turnovers on downs to close out the game with the final deficit for the Rebels settling at 41 points.
With the loss, the Rebels moved to 1-5 on the season and 1-1 in regional play.
They will next play Friday at Lincoln County High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

