MADISON TOWNSHIP — Shelby senior McGwire Albert is an outstanding quarterback and safety for the Whippets. He also became the team’s unofficial fortune teller before Friday night’s season opener.
On the bus ride over to Madison, the 6-foot-5, 215-pounder leaned over to diminutive running back Owen Fisher and shared a premonition.
“Owen, you’re going to have a career night,” Albert said.
“You think so?” Fisher replied.
“You better,” Albert said.
Fisher did exactly as Albert forecast. The 5-foot-7, 170-pound tackle-buster wrecked the Rams with 219 yards on just 15 carries and scored four TDs to lead Shelby past Madison 50-20 at Ram Field.
“I’m just trying to do my part, the line is doing a great job, and I just have to hit the holes hard,” Fisher said. “I’ve gained about 10 pounds since last year. I can break tackles a little better.”
Madison’s defense could attest to that.
Fisher scored on runs 4, 32, 39 and 8 yards to help the Whippets climb out of an early, 14-0 hole.
“I’ve been impressed by (Fisher) for two years now,” Madison coach Dave Stupka said. “He’s a very underrated back, kind of an unsung hero for them.”
Maybe not anymore.
“I thought we did a good job up front,” Shelby coach Robert Mahaney said. “(Fisher) likes to bounce things and once he started to trust the gaps, he really turned it up in there.”
It was needed after Madison got off to an electric start.
Senior running back Jamaal Coleman hit a seam on the first snap of the season and streaked 68 yards for a touchdown. With the Whippets still reeling from that stunner, the Rams hit them again with an onside kick, recovered it and promptly scored on Coleman’s 6-yard TD blast.
That gave Madison a 14-0 bulge with 8:27 to play in the first quarter, but Shelby responded immediately, and never really stopped. Mahaney’s club closed to within 14-7 after the first period and took a 22-14 bulge at halftime. It was 36-20 heading to the final 12 minutes.
“Obviously that’s not the way you want to start, but we showed a lot of character coming back,” Mahaney said. “Offensively, we played really well.”
In fact Shelby didn’t punt, and was only thwarted by turnovers and a couple of onside kicks. Albert connected on 17 of 26 passes for 263 yards, fired a TD pass and added a scoring run.
Madison had its moments, too. Coleman gained 116 yards on 21 carries, while quarterback Kaden Mullins hit 14 of 19 passes for 96 yards and a TD.
“This was a competitive game and we haven’t been competitive for a while,” Stupka said after the Rams finished 1-9 a year ago. “Obviously we’re disappointed in a loss, but I’m proud of our players, they are learning how to practice and how to prepare for a game.”
Madison travels to River Valley on Friday night, while Shelby has its home opener against Lexington.
