Golden Bears' focus key to win at New Castle

Shelbyville struggled with the mental side of the game Friday in its Hoosier Heritage Conference opener against Delta.

Physically, the Golden Bears were competing against a program that has often proven dominant. The Eagles built a 10-0 lead at halftime and extended it to 17-0 before Shelbyville got on the scoreboard.

Layden Fitzgerald finished off a scoring drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Grantland Fitzgerald to cut into the Delta lead at McKeand Stadium.

Shelbyville’s defense held strong and got the ball back to an offense building momentum. Mistakes again came into play and the Golden Bears could not cut into the deficit.

Delta countered with a bubble screen. Two Shelbyville defenders took each other out and the result was a long touchdown that closed out a 24-7 victory.

“We had opportunities to make plays and we just didn’t,” said Shelbyville head coach Scott Fitzgerald (photo). “We had two to three plays where we had multiple guys there and didn’t make the tackle. … It just seemed like things we haven’t done all year, missing plays in certain situations.”

Shelbyville and Delta have played yearly since 1997, with the exception of 2021 when rising COVID-19 numbers forced the cancellation of the game. The programs also played in 1989 – a game the Golden Bears won 15-7.

Shelbyville defeated the Eagles just three times since 2007. The last win came in 2017. There is no future date for the programs to meet with the Golden Bears joining the Hoosier Legends Conference in 2026.

Delta finished with a 22-7 record against the Golden Bears and outscored them 1,024-453.

Shelbyville will need a “cleaner” performance tonight at New Castle to get a win in week two of its HHC schedule. The Golden Bears and Trojans have played 12 times since 2002 with each team winning six.

The Trojans defeated Shelbyville, 28-7, in 2024 with strong performances by quarterback Carson Bell (21-for-28, 184 yards, three touchdowns), running back Caleb Clapp (21 rushes, 118 yards) and receiver Cade Logston (9 receptions, 128 yards, 3 TDs).

Bell and Logston are back, although Logston is out with an injury, along with senior receiver Tylin Thrine (17 receptions, 181 yards this season). Junior Luke Sherrell is New Castle’s leading rusher with 239 yards on 39 carries.

“They can still do some things. We saw that in a couple of different films we’ve had,” said Scott Fitzgerald. “They really move the ball pretty well against Pendleton Heights (a 35-0 loss) and kind of like us, they couldn’t put things together. They had a couple of bad snaps on punts. Pendleton got a reverse on one play and scored on that. They are not a bad team. We have to go out and make plays.”

Shelbyville’s run game was strong in wins over Greensburg and Rushville. Delta provided the first real test for a stronger offensive line and the grade was good.

Donavon Martin (photo) rushed for 138 yards on 29 carries to push his three-week total to 474 yards (158 yards per game).

Grantland Fitzgerald (photo) had a 44-yard run against the Eagles and finished with 71 to push Shelbyville’s rushing total to 209 yards in the loss. The junior is averaging 12.2 yards per carry in 2025 and has a team-high 10 receptions for 157 yards and three touchdowns.

“At the end of the game, the one thing I told the kids, the only thing I am disappointed in is I don’t feel like you yet have that true belief in yourselves,” said Scott Fitzgerald. “Not knowing how good you can really be. I think we went out and waited for somebody to make a play rather than I am going to go make a play. We have to get out of that mentality.”

The on-field tests are getting tougher for freshman quarterback Layden Fitzgerald, who has completed 48% of his pass attempts for 204 yards.

The offense may be without sophomore Austin Martzall (photo) tonight. He has battled illness this week and is not expected to be fully recovered to play at New Castle, according to coach Fitzgerald.

Senior defensive back Carter Dunagan (photo) is expected to be medically cleared early next week and available to make his season debut at Greenfield-Central on Sept. 19.

Junior quarterback Tyler Gwinnup had surgery last week and is in good spirits, according to Fitzgerald. He now begins a second rehabilitation process from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

SHELBYVILLE (2-1) AT NEW CASTLE (1-2)

SITE: Huffman Field in New Castle.

GAME TIME: 7 p.m.

BROADCAST: GIANT fm (96.5 fm, 1520 am, 106.3 fm, or online at giant.fm) will air the game live from Huffman Field. The pre-game show with Johnny McCrory and Jeff Brown begins at 6 p.m.

COACHES: Scott Fitzgerald, 6-17 in third year at Shelbyville; Kyle York, 31-56 in ninth year at New Castle.

SAGARIN RATINGS: Shelbyville, 60.21, 145^th overall, 35^th in Class 4A; New Castle, 62.09, 131^st overall, 30^th in Class 4A. New Castle is a 5-point favorite.

LAST MEETING: New Castle won 28-7 on Sept. 13, 2024.

SERIES ALL-TIME: Shelbyville and New Castle have split 12 overall meetings, 11 as members of the HHC. The Golden Bears won a 2002 sectional game, 47-23, then took the first three conference meetings beginning in 2014 – 48-18, 42-7 and 30-14. The Trojans won four straight HHC contests from 2017-2020 as well as a 2020 sectional game. COVID forced the cancellation of the 2021 game. Shelbyville was victorious in 2022 (22-20) and 2023 (34-14) before losing last season at McKeand Stadium.

AROUND THE HHC: Class 4A, No. 13 Greenfield-Central (2-1, 1-0 HHC) at Class 4A, No. 7 Pendleton Heights (3-0, 1-0 HHC); Mt. Vernon (0-3, 0-1 HHC) at Class 5A, No. 1 New Palestine (3-0, 1-0 HHC); and Yorktown (2-1, 0-1 HHC) at Delta (1-2, 1-0 HHC).

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