Shelby High School rallies past Forest Hills in NC high school football 2A quarterfinal
After starting the season with an 0-3 record, Shelby High has dealt with adversity this year.
Friday night in the Golden Lions’ NC 2A West region semifinal, adversity struck again when visiting Forest Hills built a 16-point lead late in the first half and was driving deep into Shelby territory.
But, as Shelby has done all season, they did so again Friday. Canden McGill’s 81-yard touchdown interception return and two explosive plays by Izay Bridges in the fourth quarter led Shelby to a 37-30 victory.
“I was down, everybody was down. But we all came back and made plays,” said Bridges, whose 83-yard touchdown reception and 64-yard touchdown run in the middle of the fourth quarter snapped a 23-all tie and gave the Golden Lions enough cushion to survive and advance.
Shelby won its 11th straight game and moves on to its 25th regional final in school history, and 16th since 2003.
Bridges, a senior wide receiver committed to NC Central, finished with six carries for 82 yards rushing and two TDs, and five catches for 134 yards and 1 TD.
Forest Hills (12-2) took its 16-0 lead early behind quarterback Brady Hibbard and receiver Jerel Bolder.
But Shelby rallied to knot the score at 16 at halftime behind McGill’s interception return and Bridges’ 13-yard run three plays after McGill had another interception with 1:46 left in the opening half.
“We’ve got a team that if we get a little bit of momentum, we can do some good things,” Shelby coach Michael Wilbanks said.
Three who made a difference
Shelby WR Izay Bridges: Had six rushes for 82 yards and 2 TDs, and five receptions for 134 yards and 1 TD.
Shelby QB Lan Farmer: Completed 14 of 23 passes for 227 yards and 2 TDs.
Forest Hills QB Brady Hibbard: Completed 20 of 32 passes for 307 yards and 2 TDs and rushed nine times for 56 yards and 1 TD.
Worth mentioning
▪ Forest Hills WR Jerel Bolder caught nine passes for 199 yards and 2 TDs.
What’s next?
Shelby plays at Reidsville next Friday in the Western N.C. 2A championship game.
Scoring summary
Forest Hills — 9 7 7 7 - 30
Shelby — 0 16 7 14 - 37
FH — Jerel Bolder 42 pass from Brady Hibbard (Kick failed)
FH — Sam Mullis 21 FG
FH — Bolder 30 pass from Hibbard (Mullis kick)
S — Canden McGill 81 interception return (Izay Bridges run)
S — Bridges 13 run (Bridges run)
FH — Hibbard 7 run (Mullis kick)
S — Drew Hollifield 18 pass from Lan Farmer (Jose Lopez kick)
S — Bridges 83 pass from Farmer (Lopez kick)
S — Bridges 64 run (Lopez kick)
S — Hibbard 20 run (Mullis kick)
This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 11:15 PM.
