GRAY DEYOSports Writer

There are more than 50 days until the Wildcats football team walks onto the field to take on Shelbyville Central for their opening game. And with the season still being so far away, the absence of football has been too great to overcome to not talk about it. Here is an early preview of Tullahoma’s first opponent of the year, Shelbyville, whom they play on Aug 23.

Tullahoma and Shelbyville Central have a back-and-forth history with each other. They have split the last four meetings, 2-2. Tullahoma won in 2021 and 2022, and Shelbyville won the two most recent matchups in 2023 and 2024.

Last year’s matchup ended in a 28-27 nail-biting win for Shelbyville. Tullahoma went and scored late in the game, and had an opportunity to win. However, they ended up throwing a pick, scrambling trying to find a way to form a come-from-behind victory. The win over the Wildcats stamped one of the Golden Eagles’ best regular seasons since 2019-2020 where they went 11-2 overall. Last year they finished 9-1 after the regular season.

Headed into this year the Golden Eagles are losing a decent number of seniors at 15, but a couple of their major playmakers on offense who helped them be successful last season are returning.

Junior quarterback Stephen Bobo started as a sophomore for Shelbyville. He has dual-threat capabilities and puts defenders in a tough bind on every snap. He had the second-most rushing attempts on the team (103 carries) and was extremely efficient when he decided to roam past the line of scrimmage. On the season he ran for 787 yards. He is also a reliable passer. Last season he passed for 11 touchdowns and 1,188 yards.

The Golden Eagles are getting back their star running back for next year, Robert Bailey. Bailey ran for a total of 1,860 yards. The Tennessean has him ranked as the 10th-best back going into the 2025-2026 season. He had the most carries on the team (206) and the most yards per attempt (9.0).

On defense, Shelbyville has some voids they are going to need to fill. Their two leaders in tackles, Brody Lovvorn (82) and Zyon Bonner (57), both graduated. Their four interception leaders all graduated–Madox Wright leading with four and Labron Ransom, William Bobo, and Lovvorn all tying with three. Ransom and W. Bobo were also the two leading receivers on the team last season. The Golden Eagles’ sack leader will be absent as well next year, Palmer Edwards.

The Wildcats also lost a good number of seniors last season, losing 13. It will be interesting to see the difference a year makes in this matchup between the two teams.