2021 2A Football Championship | Shelby downs Wallace-Rose Hill 55-34 behind Lee’s five TD passes
RALEIGH, NC – After a back-and-forth first half, the Shelby passing attack on the arm of Daylin Lee who tossed five touchdown passes in the game, lifting the Golden Lions to a 55-34 victory over Wallace-Rose Hill in the 2A State Championship Game. Lee finished the game with 313 yards through the air and completed 20-26 passes and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player as Shelby won their 12th NCHSAA State Championship.
After a week-long COVID scare that saw four Bulldogs players unable to make the trip due to positive tests, Wallace-Rose Hill jumped on the board first as the state’s leading rusher, Kanye Roberts, sprinted 56-yards for a score just two minutes into the game. Roberts carried the ball 26 times for 253 yards and five touchdowns as he was selected as the Most Outstanding Offensive Performer for Wallace-Rose Hill.
Shelby answered Roberts’ opening salvo with a score of their own when Lee found Izay Bridges for a 22-yard score just a minute and a half later to tie the game. Later in the quarter the Lions marched 10 plays and 80 yards to score on a nine-yard strike to Demetrius Thompson to go up 14-7.
Roberts found paydirt twice in short order to start the second quarter, pushing the Bulldogs back in front 21-14 on touchdown runs of 2 and 27 yards, respectively. Shelby struck right back with a pair of scores of their own to surge in front 28-21 with 1:29 to go. Marquis Adams ran for a two-yard score, one of three touchdowns for Adams on his 42 yard night that earned him Most Outstanding Offensive Performer honors for Shelby. Lee added the second of those two scores with just 1:29 to go in the half, finding Ja’Keith Hamilton for a 16-yard score.
Despite the late score for Shelby, the first half fireworks were not done. Roberts ripped off a 35-yard run that ripped through the Golden Lion defense and came a point shy of tying the game at 28 after a missed kick by the Bulldogs with just 15 seconds left in the half. Even with little time remaining to mount a drive, the Lions slipped a pass from Lee to Bridges for a 56-yard score with just four seconds to go in the half and put Shelby up 34-27 at the break.
Shelby came out swinging in the third quarter as Adams went to work, accounting for three straight Shelby touchdowns. His first score came on a 42-yard pass from Lee just over a minute into the second half. He tacked on the next two touchdowns on the ground, cashing in from three and 32 yards out to put the Lions in front comfortably 55-27.
The Golden Lion defense was led by Malaki Hamrick. Hamrick was a rock in the Lion defense, racking up 14 tackles to lead the team and adding a sack in the game. He was selected as Shelby’s Most Outstanding Defensive Performer. The Bulldog defense was powered by Antwon Montgomery who accounted for a team-leading 8 tackles and was chosen as the Most Outstanding Defensive Performer for Wallace-Rose Hill.
The NCHSAA is committed to promoting good sportsmanship and has partnered with NC Farm Bureau to recognize two individuals from each state championship who have demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship throughout the year. The NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Award Winners for the 2A Football Championships were Oscar Iraheta from Wallace-Rose Hill and Luke Williams from Shelby.
Courtesy of James Alverson, Director of NCHSAA Media