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Summit weathered the first quarter and did what they needed to do to win. Congrats to the Spartans. Hope you guys make it to Cookeville. Great Season Eagles.

Shelbyville's offense was not clicking in their first meeting. Caleb Marsh was out and they threw the ball more for some big plays. Marsh and Smalls being healthy changes the offense a lot. Pound, pound, pound is what I expect to see. The game will be determined by whether or not the defensive line of Summit can take the beating.

Matchups for this game will be very interesting. Obviously for Shelbyville, they must contain the Wade brothers. In the regular season game Summit had 5 turnovers of which 3 were scoop and scores. That will not happen again! Breakdown of SCHS- Shelbyville's offense was not clicking in the first game and since then the running attack has caught fire. Marsh #4 and Smalls #10 will be tough to handle if the O-line keeps hammering the way they have been. Cunningham #8 is also a running threat on the read options and manages the game well for a sophomore. He has a strong arm and can beat you deep if you decide you want to load the box. Simmons #15 and Wright #7 are threats with the ball in their hands at the receiver position. Myson Day #1 can also break out at any time. On Defense the line is massive, Smith III - 308 lb. , Rowe - 370 lb. , Goodson - 334, McBee - 245 lb. and they are all quick. Linebacker position is solid with Swader #34 leading the squad. Defensive backs are all hitters and very good on run support and do a very good job in pass coverage. Weaknesses - Injuries have been a drag on the running backs and have kept them from having a game at 100%. - Kicking game is suffering because of injury to first team kicker and extra points and field goals are a struggle. Kickoffs are well covered but not very deep.

I did not mean to imply that this was "De Facto" Championship. I just think that these are the two hottest teams left in 5A and this could be the deciding game. However, NOBODY knows until they tee it up.

I think it comes down to Powell, Shelbyville, and Summit. Just my opinion. Summit's handling of Page is an indication they are peaking at the right time. Shelbyville is the underdog and Powell seems to be clicking on all cylinders entering into this round. Will be fun to see how it plays out. No matter what, all of these teams have worked hard and had good years. On another note, Caleb Marsh for Shelbyville is a beast when he's healthy. He was about 80% against Beech and didn't have his break away speed because of ankle issues. Demarcus Smalls is the other back Shelbyville has and is not as big as Marsh but has break away speed and good power between the tackles. He also is fighting ankle problems. These two are showing signs of being at full speed Friday night barring a mishap in practice. It will present major problems for any opposing defense if the line keeps pushing people around.

Great match up and this could be our state championship. The line for Shelbyville is the best I have seen all year and Friday night the offensive line was NASTY!!! Both teams are better today than they were in the regular season game. Shelbyville's defense makes an offense earn every yard gained. Summit has the dynamic QB and will be a challenge for the Eagles. In the end the winner will be the team that wins the battle in the trenches. Shelbyville 34 Summit 24

This game should be a close one. The offense of Shelbyville against the 5-2 defense of Hillsboro should be interesting to watch. The winner of this game could make a run at the state title.

Shelbyville lost to Marshall County and to Page this year and should have won both of those games. In years past, they have had a weak defense. This year it is STRONG. Tramel is a gunslinger and Marsh has added a strong running game in the mix. #6 Arius Trice is explosive at receiver along with #2 Malachi Burns. Burns is huge and can run after the catch. Gary Smith III is a force on both sides of the ball on the line. These two teams scrimmaged before the season and the Eagles handled them pretty well. Both teams have gotten better during the season. I think Shelbyville can win this one by 2-3 TDs. But you never know. Thats why they play the game.