Shelby football plays dogged defense, makes clutch plays to top Pine River in pre-districts

LEROY — There were many heroes on the Shelby defense in the Tigers' impressive 20-2 defeat of Pine River Friday night, but the night couldn't have ended the way it did without a starring role from Isaac Garcia.
The Tigers' senior leader, unable to play offense due to a broken right hand that was clubbed up, nevertheless came up with maybe the game's signature two-play sequence down the stretch. With Pine River driving down 14-2 and making their last gasp to try to get back in the game, Garcia tackled the quarterback, Beckett Martin, on third down, then broke up a Martin pass on fourth down.
His offensive teammates then drove down the field for the exclamation point touchdown that secured the program's first playoff victory in 12 years, sending Shelby on to the district final at Harrison next week. Brody Fessenden converted on fourth down, powering through the Pine River defense for the clinching score.
"In crucial moments, he's our guy," Shelby coach Phil Fortier said of Garcia. "He's our dude. Everybody looks to him for leadership, and he's a captain. He's a leader. He's everything you want as a player. He works his butt off, and to have that happen at the end of the season is huge. He can't play offense (because of the injury), but man, he has taken over that secondary."
As impressive as the defense was, though, it was an offensive play that sparked the Tigers early.
After coming up with an interception on the first Bucks' possession, Shelby got a bad omen when the wet weather led to a fumbled snap and a big loss on its first offensive play. Backed up to third-and-24, Fortier said he'd already conceded the punt - until quarterback Jaylin Henderson hit Trevor Weiss on a slant for 23 yards.
"I call the punt team out, and then I got the look from the sideline," Fortier said. "Then I said, 'Alright, boys. It's on the 40-yard line and we're going to get one. Let's go see what we've got.' I trusted them, and they came through."
Fessenden converted the first down, and shortly thereafter, the senior back made a one-handed snag of a short pass from Henderson and outran the Bucks defense to the end zone for the game's first score.
Pine River did get on the board on Shelby's next drive when the Tigers got the ball at their own 5-yard line, didn't do anything with it, and snapped the ball over Henderson's head and through the end zone on a punt attempt for a safety. However, that was all the Bucks did all night. Two trips into Shelby territory - one on the first drive of the game, and the other ending with that Garcia pass breakup - was pretty much it for the home offense.
"We just knew we had to take care of two guys, and once we got them, the game's ours," Garcia said; certainly one of those guys was Bucks star running back Jericho Holmes, who found the going tough in the middle of the field. "So that's what we came into this game (thinking)...and that's what we did and that's how we won."