Delta grounds up Golden Bears in Hoosier Heritage Conference opener

MUNCIE – Shelbyville’s longest road trip of the regular season ended with a 37-7 loss Friday at Delta.

Senior running backs Nolan Carpenter and Bryce Stroble each ran for more than 100 yards and five different Eagles scored a touchdown while the Golden Bears struggled to find any offensive rhythm.

Despite suffering its second loss of the season, Shelbyville head coach Scott Fitzgerald praised the overall effort and intensity, something he felt was lacking in a week two loss at Rushville, despite the final score looking one-sided.

“We fought the entire game and that is what I asked for when we were in the lockerroom (at halftime),” said Fitzgerald. “That last 24 minutes, I wanted to see 24 minutes of fight. I think we showed that. We continued to battle and we tried to move the ball down the field.

“We just didn’t have it offensively tonight. I thought defensively, we didn’t play bad but we just continued to be on the field way too much.”

Class 3A, No. 7 Delta (3-0, 1-0 Hoosier Heritage Conference) opened the game with an 18-play, eight-minute scoring drive that ended with the quarterback, senior Bronson Edwards, scoring on a two-yard run.

Shelbyville's Wes Bailey (2) runs away from Delta's Landon Brooks, a Purdue football commit, to gain yards in the first half Friday.

Shelbyville (1-2, 0-1 HHC) lost its starting running back Donavon Martin to a shoulder injury on its second offensive series of the game which pulled top receiver Grantland Fitzgerald into the backfield. The result was very little going right in the first half.

The Golden Bears managed just two first downs, zero rushing yards and eight passing yards over the first 24 minutes.

The Eagles put together three consecutive scoring drives in the second quarter that extended the lead to 24-0 at halftime. Landon Ritchie made a 25-yard field goal, Edwards connected with Amir Wright-Hill for a 36-yard touchdown throw and Carpenter broke free for a 21-yard touchdown run just before halftime.

“We just got caught in the end with this wind (in our face) and we couldn’t make a good punt and we couldn’t move the ball in the first half,” said Fitzgerald.

Delta scored on its first possession of the second half when Stroble delivered a 10-yard run to the end zone. The Eagles appeared to score again on its next possession when Edwards found Wright-Hill alone in the end zone on a fourth-down throw but the quarterback was ruled to be across the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball and the touchdown was nullified.

On the next play, Shelbyville quarterback Tyler Gwinnup hit Jaylen Eads for a 29-yard gain which moved the Golden Bears across midfield for the first time in the game. Three plays later, Gwinnup threw a screen to Eads, who raced down the sideline to the Delta 1-yard line.

Grantland Fitzgerald ran it in from there on the next play to get the Golden Bears on the scoreboard.

Shelbyville's Avery Murnan (55) latches on to Delta running back Nolan Carpenter.

The momentum quickly ended when Kamryn Wilson returned the kickoff 80 yards for another Delta touchdown which closed out the scoring in the game.

Stroble finished with a game-high 112 yards rushing on 18 carries. Carpenter had 109 yards on 16 carries. Delta collected 25 first downs to Shelbyville’s six.

The Eagles amassed 289 yards rushing and the Golden Bears have now allowed more than 600 yards gained on the ground in their two losses.

Gwinnup finished 7-of-19 passing for 95 yards. Eads led the way with three catches for 81 yards. He also had an interception later in the fourth quarter.

Notes: Head coach Scott Fitzgerald opened his post-game interview with GIANT fm expressing his condolences for the families involved in the Georgia school shooting earlier this week. … Grantland Fitzgerald gained 11 yards on 10 carries. Freshman Jasper Hahn saw his first action in the backfield and had 14 yards on five carries. … Shelbyville returns to McKeand Stadium for week four to celebrate Homecoming. New Castle (1-2, 0-1 HHC), who lost 42-21 to Pendleton Heights Friday, is the opponent.

Steve Bush photos

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