RALEIGH, NC - The Shelby Golden Lions jumped out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter and did not look back on their way to doubling up North Davidson 42-21 and winning the school’s tenth NCHSAA State Championship in football.






Sophomore linebacker Jack Hollifield got the festivities underway, intercepting a pass and returning it 93 yards for a touchdown with 6:23 to go in the first quarter, putting Shelby up 7-0. Hollifield was named the Golden Lions Most Outstanding Defensive Player with nine tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass break-up and the 93-yard interception return for a score.



The Golden Lion defense then forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Knights possession, and after a nice punt return, Shelby had exceptional field position to start their drive at the Knights 38. Diavonni Daley capped off the 5-play, 38-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown catch from Isaiah Bess to put the Lions in front 14-0.



Shelby kept the foot on the gas pedal to start the second quarter, as Daley hauled in a 22-yard pass from Bess to cap a nine-play, 54-yard drive and give the Lions a 21-0 advantage with 10:45 to play in the first half. Bess finished the contest with 192 yards and three touchdown passes as he completed 17 of his 26 pass attempts and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Daley hauled in six passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns as he was selected as Shelby’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player in the game.



North Davidson responded on their next possession, sprinting 72 yards in just 8 plays and two minutes. The Knights got on the board with Devon Welch’s three-yard touchdown plunge to trim the Shelby lead to 21-7 which is how the teams entered the locker room at the half.

2AA MVP Isaiah Bess

The Lions started to pull away for good with an 18-yard touchdown pass by Bess to Fabian Pettis with 2:15 to go in the third. That touchdown finished off a 10-play 63-yard drive that chewed up 4:07 of clock. The Knights answered right back with an 11-play drive of their own that went 50 yards and spanned 4:45 to cut the lead to 28-14 when Jackson Perrell scored on a three-yard touchdown run.



The two teams traded scores for the rest of the contest with Donye Fuller plunging in from a yard out for the Golden Lions before Gage Williams recovered a Shelby fumble, rumbling 15 yards for a score to trim the Shelby lead back to 14 at 35-21 and 4:48 to go. Jaylon Scott put the game away for the Golden Lions when he scored from one yard out to polish off a 9-play, 49-yard drive at the 1:15 mark of the final quarter.



The North Davidson defense was led by Blake Stephens who collected 10 tackles on the game including 3.5 sacks and 4 tackles for loss. He is also credited with a pass break-up and quarterback hurry in the game as he was named North Davidson’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player. The Knight was led by Themus Fulks who was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player for the Knights with eight receptions for 146 yards on the afternoon.





Story and photos courtesy of NCHSAA

In a classic case of offense versus defense, this year's 2018 state championship game between North Davidson and Shelby is sure to be a battle of two opposing styles. Both teams come into this year's state title game coming off wins that were revenge wins of sorts in the regional finals last Friday night. Shelby avenged their loss in last year's regional final against Hibriten by knocking off the defending state champions while North Davidson defeated Ledford in a rematch of this year's regular-season finale and Central Carolina conference title game which Ledford had won 9-7.



For North Davidson, this has definitely been a season to remember. Coach Brian Flynn's Black Knights are 13-2 and in the NCHSAA state title game for the first time in school history. A feature of the North Davidson team that many of their opponents have fallen prey to has been the strong Black Knights' defense, a defense which has shut out seven opponents this year and only given up 103 points in their fifteen games. Two standout defensive players for North Davidson are Evan Vanmeter and Maddox Johnson, who each has over 115 tackles this season for the Black Knights.



But the Black Knights are not a team that gets by on a strong defense alone. The North Davidson offense has gone over the 40-point mark nine times this season. For North Davidson to get in the end zone this Saturday, Themus Fulks is going to have to have a big day. His eighty-nine receptions and sixteen touchdowns are a big reason why North Davidson has made it to the state title game. If somehow Shelby could shut Fulks down, Kobe Brown will be there to run it in on the ground, completing a balanced offensive attack for North Davidson.



While this is North Davidson's first trip to a state title game, the Shelby Golden Lions are quite familiar with playing at this point in time in the month of December. The Golden Lions are gunning for their tenth NCHSAA state championship and fifteenth overall title when considering the old WNCHSAA championships. A win on Saturday would mean five state championships in the last six years for Lance Ware's Golden Lions, a streak never seen in all of Shelby's rich football tradition.



Shelby quarterback Isaiah Best leads a potent air attack for the Golden Lions and has passed for over 3,500 yards this season. Jaylon Scott, Jack Hollifield, and Nick Stites have played tremendous roles in helping this year's Shelby team overcome and 0-3 start after three losses on the road to 3A teams. The Golden Lions have won eleven straight since this early season hiccup, starting with upsetting another 3A power, Kings Mountain, at home right as Hurricane Florence came rolling through in mid-September.



An interesting note in that this is not the first time that North Davidson and Shelby have matched up in a title game. Back in 1975, the Black Knights and Golden Lions faced off in the old WNCHSAA title game, playing to a 21-21 draw. A win on Saturday would mean a little something extra to the players on those 1975 teams.