Class AAAAA No. 1 Tucker defeated M.L. King 60-34 on Friday behind four Duke Shelley touchdowns — two on kickoff returns, one on an interception and another on a 43-yard reception.
Shelley’s four touchdowns covered 219 yards, as he made an impact on all facets of the game. And he wasted no time in starting the onslaught.
On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Shelley grabbed an errant Roland Rivers pass and ran 30 yards to the end zone to put the Tigers (9-0, 8-0 in Region 6-AAAAA) ahead.
That was the launch of quite a night for the junior, in a game where the two teams traded big plays and key turnovers, though only Tucker seemed to take advantage of those.
The biggest example of that came late in the third quarter, with the Lions (6-3, 6-2) down 39-28. Tucker’s Elijah Sullivan fumbled near the 50-yard line, and M.L. King’s Chaka Diarrassouba returned it to the Tucker 11 to give the Lions a chance to get back to within striking distance.
But without a reliable field-goal kicker, M.L. King ran four plays, going backward to the 13 and got no points out of the great field position. That was the last of three Tucker turnovers, and the Lions didn’t score on any of them.
On the other side, Tucker forced four M.L. King turnovers — all Rivers interceptions, and all in the first half — and turned those into 14 points that could have proven the difference in the fourth quarter.
For Tucker, Shelley’s big night overshadowed a very efficient, impressive night for quarterback Joseph Farrar.
He had only four completions, but three of them were touchdown passes, covering 43, 27 and 22 yards, and he had a number of savvy run plays to post a game-high 124 rushing yards and another score.
His counterpart was almost the exact opposite, throwing the ball 50 times to Farrar’s 9, while throwing four touchdowns but matching that with four interceptions. He finished 22 for 50 for 444 yards, but he also finished with only 6 rushing yards and was harassed by a relentless Tucker pass rush.
Rivers usually did well when he had time to stand in the pocket and throw, but the almost complete lack of a running game — M.L. King finished with 7 rushing yards — allowed a fast, talented Tucker defense to key on the pass.
Rivers completed passes to 10 receivers and had five completions of more than 40 yards. Shumake led all receivers with 156 yards and a touchdown on five catches.
