Shelby football brings home Blood, Sweat and Tears Jug with 28-18 win over Hart

SHELBY — The Shelby Tigers could hardly wait to take turns miming taking drinks out of the Blood, Sweat and Tears Jug after Friday night's 28-18 triumph over Hart, the first time since 2019 that the team in purple won the coveted rivalry trophy.

It was a win treasured by all the Tigers' faithful, certainly including coach Phil Fortier, who earned his first Jug as the head coach.

"It means everything," Fortier said. "If I had a dime for every time I heard somebody say, 'That's the one you've got to win. You don't have to win many around here, but you've got to win that one.'

"There were absolutely so many dudes running around on the field tonight, so determined, so unselfish, so disciplined, and they gave such a great effort. So proud to be their coach."

The contest was mostly made up of the two teams pounding the ball on the ground in a war of attrition, but for Shelby (2-1, 1-1 West Michigan Conference Rivers), the difference came on two huge plays born of getting athletes the ball in open space.

The first was an 86-yard kickoff return touchdown by Elijah Dashiell in response to Hart's first scoring drive. Dashiell's lightning bolt was a major change of pace after the teams had each methodically worked down the field for touchdowns on their first drives of the game, each taking over eight minutes to do it.

The second came right on the heels of the Tigers making the night's first big defensive stop, stonewalling Hart at the 22-yard line on fourth down to start the third quarter. Just a couple of plays later, Jaylin Henderson dropped back and found Trevor Weiss on a quick slant. Weiss did the rest, racing to the house with a 74-yard touchdown that put the Tigers up by eight points, 20-12.

"Out of the receiver group, he is not the fastest guy, but he was the fastest guy today after he caught that ball, man," Fortier said. "Holy cow. I'd like to time that 40(-yard dash) now."

"Trevor and I mess around sometimes at practice," Henderson said. "I love Trevor. He's really a good guy. My and his chemistry is just really good. On that (play), I saw him wide open, so I threw it, and I already knew he was going for a touchdown."

The Pirates did not fold, though, going into the end zone two possessions later when Kyle Greiner pounded in his second score. However, Shelby was able to turn back the tying two-point conversion and maintained the lead.

After the Tigers converted several key first downs - including a third-and-15 scramble by Henderson, who ran for 79 yards in all - Hart (2-1, 1-1 WMC Rivers) intentionally allowed a touchdown in hopes of getting the ball back down eight points. However, Shelby nixed that plan by converting the two-point attempt, and Hart was left to wonder what could have been had it not twice been stopped inside the Shelby 25-yard line.

"We just didn't finish drives, and you've just got to do that," Hart coach Joe Tanis said. "We talked non-stop about winning in the red zone. That's one thing we cover every Monday morning. Unfortunately, we're going to be covering that this Monday morning, and it's not going to be as fun as covering last week's."

The loss spoiled a terrific effort from Greiner, who carried the ball 30 times for 194 yards and a pair of scores. Despite his lack of size - he's listed at 5-6 - Greiner runs with remarkable tenacity and even invites contact, as evidenced by one play on which he grabbed a Tiger defender before a collision and dragged him another few yards. Halen Boos took a back seat to Greiner Friday, but at a similar size, he runs with the same refusal to yield.

"You've got 5-6, 150 or 160-pound dudes, but they play with such big hearts," Tanis said. "They are such tough runners. I absolutely love those kids. We're not the biggest. We're not the most talented, but man, our kids play hard, and they play together. Unfortunately tonight we came up short."

Shelby, meanwhile, continued to enjoy success with its unorthodox two-quarterback system of Henderson and Isaac Garcia, who ran in the Tigers' first touchdown Friday. Most similar systems are put in because one signal-caller throws and the other runs, but at Shelby it's not quite that simple. Both players are very good athletes - they each play wide receiver if not behind center - but do possess slightly different skill sets, Fortier said. Friday, Henderson ended up taking the bulk of the snaps.

"We think Jaylin's a bigger, tougher runner," Fortier said. "He throws the deep ball better. Isaac reads the option better. He's more accurate with the football. So we deploy those guys sometimes with a plan, and sometimes we deploy them on feel. Tonight was the feel, and we just felt like Jaylin gave us our best chance, especially with his ability to run and break tackles, so that's where we went."

"The athletes they have, with (running back Brody) Fessenden, Jaylin and Garcia, they're tough to defend, and they played their best game that I've seen them play," Tanis added. "They played the cleanest ball they've played. You just give hats off to them."

Both county squads have more tough tests upcoming. Hart has to face Kent City next week - Tanis said he thinks the Eagles are among the best teams in Division 6 - and then defending conference champ North Muskegon. Shelby, meanwhile, welcomes the same Ravenna team that took Hart to overtime in week two to town for its next game.

Fortier said the Tigers will have no problem refocusing despite the obvious emotions of Friday's win.

"These guys won't let each other get too big," Fortier said. "They just want to win so bad. They want to do it, not just for themselves, but for each other and for the community."