Sports

Streak is over! Wolves top Shelby

TERRANCE THOMAS, LTN Staff Writer

Dec. 3 - SHELBY — “We’re no. 1!, We’re no. 1!, We’re no. 1!.” said the Lincolnton fans as they  raced unto the field to the players. Together they all cheered, jumped, yelled and hugged.

It was celebration time.

After, all it’s not often the Wolves beat Shelby.

Lincolnton pulled out a heart-wrenching 28-27 victory to beat the Golden Lions Friday.

The Wolves advance to the 2A semifinals and will play Cummings in Burlington Friday at 7:30.

There was a blue moon, a fog and a determined will to win.

All of those factors negated the Shelby Hex — Lincolnton hadn’t beaten the Golden Lions in 33 years.

With that out of the way, it came down to two really good football teams battling it out for 48 minutes.

With Shelby up 27-21 and 2:05 to play, Wolves quarterback William Lineberger found receiver  Rafael Corella in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass play. Hunter French nailed the extra point and the Wolves went up by one.

Shelby had one more chance but the Lincolnton defense came up big with two sacks to snuff out the Golden Lions’ season.

“This is great,” said Lincolnton lineman Junior Smith. “I always knew we could beat them. Now nobody can stop us.”

The Wolves wanted to do several things in the game. They wanted to limit their turnovers.

They had two interceptions and one fumble. Two of the turnovers directly led to to Shelby touchdowns.

They wanted to control the ball and keep Shelby off the field and prevent big plays.

The Wolves defense came up strong, holding Shelby to just 177 yards of total offense.

Head coach Scott Cloninger said he felt like a big play for Lincolnton early would give the team confidence.

That happened almost as soon as the game started.

It was fourth down on Shelby’s first series. But punter Tripp Reynolds fumbled the snap and the Wolves took over at the Shelby 16.

Three plays later, running back Damien Forney blasted through the left side of the line to score from 11 yards out…7-0 Wolves.

When the Wolves got the ball back again, one of the weirdest plays happened on a pass play. As soon as Lineberger threw the ball, Shelby defensive lineman Jarvis McIntyre either took the ball out of Lineberger’s hand and caught it just as Lineberger released it.

McIntyre then sprinted 30 yards to return the interception for a touchdown to tie it.

But on the extra point attempt, Shelby kicker Michael Ingle missed.

That was perhaps the biggest play of the game. Shelby didn’t go for two and that one point was difference.

Shelby went up 13-7 in the second quarter. Then after Lincolnton shanked a punt, Shelby had a chance pull away. But on fourth down at the Wolves’ 29, Shelby quarterback Shawn Haynes fumbled.

Lincolnton’s Derrick Nixon scooped the ball up and ran all the way to the Shelby 7 before getting tackled.

 Right after that Lineberger scored on a 2-yard bootleg run.

 In the third period after another shanked punt, Shelby scored again on Haynes’ 2-yard keeper.

But the Wolves came right  back with some razzle dazzle.

With the ball at its 21, Linberger threw a lateral pass to backup quarterback Randall Chambers who stunned Shelby by turning around and throwing he ball downfield to a wide open Forney.

Forney ran all the way to glory for a 79-yard pass play.

The quiet Lincolnton crowd woke up cheering like crazy.

“When Coach called me to throw, I knew what he wanted,” Chambers said. “I had to make sure I caught it. Two defenders were coming at me. I knew he was going to be wide open. I just threw it.”

But on the ensuing kickoff, O’Bryan Wilson broke free and returned the ball all the to the 13-yard line.

Shelby then went ahead 27-21 on Tavarus Hill’s 1-yard plunge.

Lincolnton couldn’t do much in the fourth quarter until its last drive. Forney ran five times for 19 on the drive which started at its own 45.

On second and 14 at the 25, Linebeger hit Corella. in the corner of the left side of the end zone.

“it was a good pass, “Corella said. ‘I had it in my heart. I knew I was going to catch that ball. It felt good going into my hands.”

The touchdown and the extra point was the clincher.

This time victory belonged to Lincolnton.

“This is great,” said Forney, who had 94 yards on 19 carries. “The monkey is off our back. We stepped up. We rose to the occasion.”

Cloninger was simply pleased.

“The kids didn’t quit,” he said. We’ve got the streak now. This is the biggest win for us since 1993 when we won the state title.”

After the game, some of the Wolves were talking about going to Chapel Hill, the site of the state championship game.

The directions to Chapel Hill are 40 minutes and a week away from Burlington.

But you’ve got to go through Burlington. 

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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