The Marshall County Tigers stumbled out of the gates to start the 2013 football season, as they lost 34-21 on the road to the Shelbyville Golden Eagles on Friday night.

After taking a 21-20 lead into halftime, MCHS still held their slim one-point advantage late in the third quarter, but Shelbyville outscored the Tigers 14-0 down the stretch with the help of two big special teams plays to claim the 13-point victory.

Air attack

The Golden Eagles piled up 456 yards of total offense with 306 yards coming through the air. Shelbyville quarterback Mason Cunningham had a big night and completed 17-of-30 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns to go along with one interception. Zeke Mason also hit Jaylon Thompson for a 45-yard TD pass late in the fourth quarter on a fake punt to seal the victory for the Golden Eagles.

Tyler Eddings was Cunningham's main target and snared seven passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, while Detrell Carpenter had three receptions for 41 yards and a TD.

The Golden Eagles moved the ball effectively on the ground as well and rushed for 150 yards on 27 carries. Tailback Dallas Castleman rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries to lead Shelbyville's running attack.

Missed tackles

"Defensively, we've got to tackle the ball better. We had a chance to wrap them up, but didn't do it and it resulted in big plays," said Marshall County coach Aaron Pitts.

The Golden Eagles also made two other game changing plays on special teams that helped decide the outcome of the contest. Shelbyville recovered a short kickoff in Tiger territory that led to their third touchdown of the game, before Eddings returned a punt 77 yards late in the third period to set up another short TD drive.

Outside linebacker Nick Jorgensen paced Marshall County's defense with eight tackles, while Chris Walker, Cain Hendrix, and Jay Murphy all registered six tackles. Payton Hood notched five tackles as well, and Quante Alderson and Dontae Horton both had four tackles. Antonio Shelton also recorded an interception for MCHS.

Tiger leaders

Hindered by a sluggish second half performance, the Tigers finished with a modest 289 yards of total offense, which included 148 yards rushing on 43 carries. Senior quarterback Austin Stacey was Marshall County's main offensive catalyst, as he rushed for 44 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries, while also completing 11-of-20 passes for 141 yards to go along with one interception.

Bennielle Hill was the Tigers second leading rusher with 28 yards on six carries, while Quinnie White and Walker both rushed for 23 yards. Alderson added 21 yards rushing on two carries for MCHS as well.

Kacey Pleas led Marshall County's receiving corps with three catches for 29 yards, while Jay Howard and Walker both hauled in two passes for 53 and 39 yards respectively. Justin Dunkle also had one catch for 18 yards.

Error-prone

Both teams were plagued by mistakes throughout the game, as the Tigers were penalized 11 times for 80 yards while Shelbyville was flagged 10 times for 110 yards.

Marshall County saw their opening drive stall near midfield, but got the ball back in good field position when they stopped Carpenter short of a first down on a fake punt attempt at the Shelbyville 45.

After advancing to the Golden Eagle 30 with the help of a 13-yard catch by Pleas, the Tigers failed to gain any more ground before placekicker Aaron Medley missed a 47-yard field goal attempt.

Shelbyville then got on the board a few moments later when Eddings caught a short pass from Cunningham and raced 66 yards for a touchdown to make it 6-0 with 4:24 left in the first quarter. The Golden Eagles failed to convert the extra point due to a bad snap.

Tigers take lead

Marshall County came up empty on their next two possessions, but managed to pin Shelbyville at their own one-yard line thanks to a 50 yard punt by Medley. Following a three and out by the Golden Eagles, Carpenter shanked his punt and MCHS started their ensuing drive at the Shelbyville 6.

Stacey then scored on a six-yard touchdown run on the next play while Medley tacked on the extra point to give the Tigers a 7-6 advantage with 8:50 remaining in the second quarter.

MCHS' lead would be short lived, as Shelbyville put together a six-play 80-yard scoring drive on their ensuing possession, capped by a 25-yard touchdown catch by Carpenter, to pull ahead 13-7.

The Golden Eagles then got the ball back immediately when the Tigers failed to field a pooch kickoff by Micah Thompson and Marcus Bryson pounced on the pigskin to give Shelbyville possession at the Tiger 32.

Quick reactions

It took the Golden Eagles just four plays to find pay dirt, as Castleman burst up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown run to stretch Shelbyville's lead to 20-7 midway through the second quarter.

Marshall County would quickly counterpunch and cut the deficit to 20-14 on their ensuing drive when Stacey scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge after hitting Howard for a 50-yard gain on the previous play to convert a 3rd and 19 situation.

Following a Golden Eagle punt, the Tigers advanced to the Shelbyville 2 in the waning seconds of the half on the strength of runs of 18 and 15 yards by Alderson and Hill and a 41-yard reception by Walker. Stacey then darted around the right side of the line for a two-yard touchdown run to stake MCHS to a 21-20 lead at the break.

Both teams failed to score on their first two drives of the second half before Eddings set up Shelbyville with excellent field position on their third possession of the stanza when he returned a punt 77 yards to the Marshall County 5 after eluding a pair of Tiger defenders.

Eagles take off

Murphy tackled Castleman for a four-yard loss on first down, but Cunningham hit Carpenter on the next play to give Shelbyville a 26-21 lead with :09 remaining in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles then failed on the two-point conversion attempt to keep the deficit at five.

Marshall County drove to the Shelbyville 17 on their next possession but were unable to advance any further before Stacey was picked off by Tyler Bailey on a desperation 4th and 15 throw.

After the Golden Eagles picked up a couple of first downs, the Tigers limited Shelbyville to only two yards on their next three plays to set up an apparent punting situation.

The Golden Eagles, however, pulled another rabbit out of their special teams hat when Thompson caught a pass from Mason out in the left flat and rumbled 45 yards for a touchdown. Cunningham then found Eddings in the end zone on the two-point conversion attempt to push Shelbyville's lead to 34-21 with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter.

Marshall County lost the ball on downs on their final possession before the Golden Eagles picked up two first downs on three straight running plays to run out the clock.