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By DANIEL LOCKE | Staff Writer 

COLUMBIANA – The Selma Saints scored two late touchdowns, but the Shelby County Wildcats were in the driver’s seat for the majority of the night, picking up a 38-14 win over a region opponent as a result.

“Any win is huge at this point in our program,” said Shelby County head coach Zeb Ellison. “I’m just happy for our guys, and we’ll try to take it one week at a time. Next week is our bye week. We’re going to try to get everyone back to 100 percent before we have East Limestone roll in here, then head to wherever we go in the playoffs.”

The Wildcats wasted no time out of the gate, as a big gain by Ryan Sipes on a quarterback keeper set Eli Carlisle up for a 9-yard touchdown run.

After stopping Selma short of the line to gain on a fourth-down conversion attempt, Shelby County quickly found itself on the board again when Sipes connected with Dominic Woods for a 52-yard scoring play, extending its lead to 14-0 after a successful two-point conversion attempt.

Sipes finished the game with 207 yards and two touchdowns through the air, going 8-of-15 passing. He also added 42 yards on the ground.

“Ryan (Sipes) does a great job, he’s a great leader,” Ellison said. He’s a great motivator for our guys; he leads our team extremely well. It’s just a blessing to see how far he’s come over the years. I love him to death, the kids love him. When you’re playing the quarterback position, everybody’s gotta believe in you and follow you. There’s no doubt he has that locker room, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The sides traded scoreless possession throughout the second quarter until Tyson Duncan carried the ball 25 yards to the pay dirt, giving the Wildcats a three-score lead.

Remy Martinez put a 40-yard field goal attempt through the uprights as time expired in the first half, sending the Wildcats into the break with a 24-0 lead.

Selma got the ball to start the second half and drove 60 yards, but an untimely false start penalty led to an unsuccessful conversion attempt on fourth-and-7, bringing the drive to an end. Shelby County took over at its own 10-yard line. Sipes found Dominic Woods for another scoring play, this time from 44 yards out to put the Wildcats up 31-0.

Dominic Woods led the Wildcats in receiving with 114 yards and two touchdowns off five receptions.

The Saints managed to find their way into the end zone for the first time on the possession that followed. A 75-yard drive was capped off by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Samarion Woods to Ka’Chavious Tarver.

Sipes fumbled on Shelby County’s following drive, but Andres Mcginnis intercepted a pass from Woods on the next play to get the ball back for the Wildcats and set them up for their final scoring drive of the night. A 14-yard run by Devan Alexander was the culminating play of a 56-yard drive.

Alexander was the Wildcats’ leading rusher, finishing the game with 134 yards and one touchdown off 14 carries. Duncan ended up with 95 yards and one touchdown on 13 attempts.

“They played hard, played well,” Ellison said of the Wildcats’ defense. “They’ve got a very, very athletic team. We knew they were going to give us trouble. Their quarterback is phenomenal, a couple really good receivers. I’m just proud of our guys, proud of the way they played. It’s a good stepping stone and a good way in the right direction.”

Selma had one more touchdown left in it when it got the ball for the final time with 7:21 left in the game. Multiple big gains on the ground by Samarion Woods set Robert Lytle up for a touchdown carry and the game’s final score.

Putting their best foot forward until time ran out was a goal for the Saints, and they remained committed to it until the end of the night.

“We just stayed with the game plan,” said Selma head coach Marcus Gardner. “We just gotta execute. That’s pretty much what we did, was just execute at the end.”

After getting the job done against Selma, Shelby County’s playoff chances are even higher, allowing it to focus on getting healthy and improving during the upcoming bye week, rather than having a season finale coming up that could have significant playoff implications.

Ellison believes his team has been doing a good job of staying focused on consistent improvement throughout the season.

“Right now, it’s just us,” Ellison said. “Trying to get better each and every week, and that’s kind of what we’ve been doing all year. Having to move guys here and there, just trying to figure out what fits us best. I think we’re slowly inching in the right direction, and all we can do is ask our kids to show up each and every day and give it everything they got and hopefully stay healthy and just kind of see how it plays out.”

Shelby County (5-4, 4-2) will have a bye week next week before hosting East Limestone on Thursday, Oct. 30, at Charles “Pa Pa” McCombs Wildcat Stadium to close out the regular season.

“I think it’s got its ups and downs,” Ellison said about having a late bye week. “The good thing is it’s week nine and not week 10. We’re able to kind of get back in the groove of things; we’re not off the week before the playoffs. Hopefully, we can get everyone back and head in the right direction and just try to prepare for whoever we’re gonna play.”

Selma (2-6, 1-4) hosts Sipsey Valley next week in its final region contest of the season, before closing the season on the road at Keith.