KIRBYVILLE — After going neck-and-neck in the first quarter, the Pirates held the Kirbyville Wildcats scoreless for two quarters for a 38-21 win to open the football season.
Head Coach Miles Robison said he thought the team did a lot of good things Friday.
“We were physical on both sides of the ball and made some key plays when we needed to,” he said.
Shepherd barely edged out Kirbyville 16-14 in the first, then racked up a TD in each of the next two quarters. Kirbyville didn’t score again until the fourth quarter, but a TD with a 2-point conversion put the game on the Pirates’ W line.
Robison praised the offense, which amassed 379 yards rushing with 5 TDs. Jacorey Davis went 127 yards on 15 carries for 3 TDs; Ben Coyle went 140 yards on 5 carries and 1 TD; and quarterback Landen Dellinger went 95 yards on 12 carries and 1 TD.
In the air, Dellinger completed one of five passes to Brayden White for three yards.
Defensively, White and Michael Weekes put pressure on the Wildcat quarterback all night, adding 4 sacks to the team’s 7 sacks. Shepherd also had 3 Interceptions on the night, with White returning one for 25 yards.
The Pirates face cross-county rival Coldspring-Oakhurst on Friday at home.
The Trojans posted a nail-biting 30-26 loss at home on Friday to open their season under new leadership.
