Shelbyville overpowers Greensburg for season-opening win at McKeand Stadium

Whether or not Donavon Martin has a breakout season is still to be determined. His opening night performance, however, was spectacular.

The Shelbyville junior carried the ball a career-high 29 times for a career-high 225 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Golden Bears to a 36-14 win over Greensburg Friday at McKeand Stadium.

Martin delivered an explosive 71-yard run late in the second quarter then scored two plays later to give Shelbyville a 15-0 lead. And when his team was reeling early in the third quarter, Martin was the featured back in a 13-play, 73-yard scoring drive that pushed the Golden Bears’ lead to 29-14.

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t want that many carries,” said Martin. “I will take as many carries as I can to help my team any way I can.”

Martin carried eight times on the game’s most important drive and scored his second touchdown, this time from eight yards out, to firmly put the Golden Bears back in control.

“It felt pretty big. You can get down sometimes. Football is a very mental game,” said Martin. “We have to get out of our heads and getting a touchdown is a great way to get out of our heads. It gets us hyped up and ready to keep playing.”

Greensburg’s offense was listless much of the game but a 35-yard completion on fourth down moved the Pirates inside the Shelbyville 5 and quarterback Bryson Abplanalp scored two plays later to set the halftime score at 22-7.

Shelbyville quarterback Tyler Gwinnup threw his first interception on the third play of the second half and again Greensburg capitalized with an Austin Cruz scoring run to cut the lead to 22-14.

“Far too many times tonight I felt like we shot ourselves in the foot,” said Shelbyville head coach Scott Fitzgerald. “I really didn’t feel like (Greensburg) did anything to stop us. We stopped ourselves with two turnovers and a couple missing assignments here and there. It was really just about us.”

Shelbyville sophomore Grantland Fitzgerald (5) looks for room to run while being pursued by a pair of Greensburg defenders Friday at McKeand Stadium.

Martin, who had 14 carries and 143 yards at halftime rushed 15 more times in the second half and Gwinnup, making his first varsity start, connected on 5 of 8 passes, including his second touchdown throw of the game – a 16 yarder to Grantland Fitzgerald -- that sealed the win.

“We knew he would have some throws that weren’t good – the interception. We had Gavin wide open on the play and he overshot him a little bit,” said Fitzgerald. “Again, super proud of him for being a sophomore and coming in and he had some pressure throws. He made some mistakes and had some adversity but he jumped right back in and his teammates picked him up.”

After failing to score on its first two drives of the game, Shelbyville took over at the Greensburg 37 following a Gavin Reed fumble recovery. A pair of Martin runs set up a Gwinnup to Ben Bailey 19-yard scoring strike for the first lead.

Martin’s 71-yard run made the next scoring drive even quicker. Martin crashed into the end zone from four yards out and Fitzgerald ran in the 2-point conversion for a 15-0 lead.

Shelbyville defensive lineman Jack West (center) celebrates his fumble recovery touchdown Friday night at McKeand Stadium.

A low snap on the first play of Greensburg’s next possession skipped past Abplanalp and defensive lineman Jack West scooped up the ball at the 25-yard line and raced to the end zone for his first varsity touchdown.

“I think he had the time of his life on that one,” said Fitzgerald. “How exciting for him. It was a great scoop and score and we took advantage of that opportunity.”

Shelbyville will look to start the season 2-0 for the second consecutive season Friday at Rushville, who lost to Milan, 42-26, in its season opener.

Notes: Prior to the game, Shelbyville honored the South Central Conference championship football teams from 1975 and 1984. Several former players, cheerleaders, managers, trainers, coaches and administrative personnel were in attendance. … The SHS cheerleaders performed in between the first and second quarters with participants from its annual youth cheerleading camp.

Steve Bush photos

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