Sheppard lifts Haralson County past Ringgold
Treylon Sheppard, the Haralson County running back, is well on his way to rewriting the GHSA record book because no one has been able to stop him this season.
And while they did manage to slow him down a little, you can add Ringgold Tigers to Sheppard’s victims’ list.
The senior, who topped 2,500 yards rushing for the season on Friday night, has no major scholarship offers, but he looked like a big-time back in Tallapoosa as Haralson County handed the Tigers a 30-14 defeat.
The 5-foot-9, 165-pounder gained 292 yards on 37 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 17, 15 and 4 yards. Add a pair of two-point conversion runs and you have the one-man gang who carried the host Rebels to their seventh win in eight games (5-1 in Region 6-AAA). With the loss, Ringgold fell to 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the region.
The game might have turned on the first play of the night as Haralson County quarterback Javen Sheppard fumbled at his own 20-yard line. But a Rebel lineman managed to outwrestle several Tigers for possession and the home team would go on to spend half the quarter driving for the game’s first touchdown on Sheppard’s 17-yard run.
Haralson County took a 14-0 lead into the half after Sheppard’s second score of the night, but Ringgold scored first in the third quar- ter on a fourth-down, fingertip catch by tight end Cade Nayadley to pull the Tigers to within six. However, the Tigers did not score again until the final play of the game, when Cole Kibler lofted a prayer that Jared Dunn answered as the clock struck zeroes. Andre Tarver’s two-point conversion run would be the final play of the game.
Kibler, who missed the Tigers’ previous game at Murray County with a sore shoulder, looked strong as he completed 21-of-37 passes for 279 yards and the two touchdowns. But he also suffered a pair of interceptions on two balls that hit his receivers’ hands and bounded right to the waiting Rebels.
Dunn had his best offensive game as a Tiger, catching five balls for 59 yards and the one score. Tarver gained 79 yards on 15 carries and caught three passes for 22 yards. Pete Brower was Kibler’s favorite target with seven catches for 72 yards.
The Tigers return home for the first time in a month this Friday against Adairsville.