Shelby is on a five-game streak of home wins, while Lincolnton is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Shelby Golden Lions will take on the Lincolnton Wolves at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Shelby knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past nine contests -- so hopefully Lincolnton likes a good challenge.
With a playoff game on the line, Shelby rose to the challenge on Friday. They really took it to Mount Pleasant for the full four quarters, racking up a 62-14 win at home. The result was nothing new for Shelby, who have now won eight matches by 30 points or more so far this season.
Shelby's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Tristan Tate led the charge by rushing for 117 yards and three touchdowns on only seven carries. Tate has been hot recently, having posted 100 or more rushing yards the last three times he's played. Lan Farmer was another key contributor, throwing for 269 yards and three touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes.
Meanwhile, Lincolnton strolled past North Surry with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 35-21. Given Lincolnton's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 101st, while North Surry is ranked 214th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Khamoni Heath was on fire: he rushed for 200 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.1 yards per carry. Heath really tore up the turf during one magnificent 80-yard run.
Shelby's victory bumped their record up to 8-3. As for Lincolnton, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a massive bump to their 6-5 record this season.
Shelby strolled past Lincolnton in their previous meeting back in December of 2015 by a score of 37-21. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Lincolnton's Tarus Dameron, who rushed for 256 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.1 yards per carry. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Shelby to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
