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By Travis Gupton

The Selma Times-Journal

Defense played a significant factor in Selma’s 29-0 win over Shelby County on Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

The Saints’ offense struggled in the first half before opening the scoring up in the fourth quarter.

Saints head coach Willie Gandy said the team’s defense played a major factor in getting the win.

“The defense has been playing some excellent football,” Gandy said. “In each game, we played we have only given up one touchdown on average.

“Our defense has been really strong all year. They wanted the shutout tonight.”

Selma came out on the opening kickoff with a bang. The Saints returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for an early lead thanks to freshman Omari Smith. The Saints went for a 2-point conversion and converted making the score 8-0 with 11:45 left in the first half. That was the only score in the first half.

The Shelby County defense held the Saints in check for the rest of the first half. The Saints had a positive drive going at the end of the first half that was held up by multiple false start penalties that stalled the drive.

The Wildcats drove deep into Saints territory in the second quarter, but the Saint’s defense held strong and kept the score at 8-0 at halftime

Selma and Shelby Counties’ offenses could not get anything going for most of the third quarter and after three quarters as the score stayed 8-0.

It wasn’t until the final quarter of play that the Saints started pulling away.

With 10:36 left in the game quarterback, Marcus Walton scored on a quarterback run from 16 yards out, pushing the lead to 14-0.

The Saints added  to the lead, scoring on a 90-yard run for a touchdown. The saints converted the two-point conversion, making it 22-0 with 6:36 left.

The Saints’ final points of the game came when DaKaari Nelson scored a pick-six. The Saints kick edthe extra point for a 29-point victory.