SHELBY — After meeting twice during the 2025 campaign, it would surprise few if Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A rivals Lincolnton and Shelby duplicated the feat again this fall.

Until then, Shelby football will bask in bragging rights earned over a conference nemesis.

The Golden Lions crossed a significant hurdle Friday, Oct. 9 in their pursuit of a league championship, claiming a 9-7 homecoming victory over Lincolnton at Shelby High’s George Blanton Memorial Stadium.

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“(Lincolnton) had me worried and losing sleep at night,” said Shelby football coach Mike WIlbanks. “They have (Rashad and R.J. Lynch, as well as Jalaythan Mayfield and Messiah Thompson) among others. They do so many things and have so many formations; thankfully our defense bent, but didn’t break.”

Billed as a matchup between two of the state’s top offenses — Lincolnton averaged greater than 52.7 points per game coming in, while Shelby was scoring 44.2 points per game — this one instead was headlined by their two defenses.

Shelby limited Lincolnton to 203 total yards in the game. The Wolves were stingy in their own right, holding a vaunted Shelby attack to 266 yards.

“It was very old school, like an old 1980s ballgame,” Wilbanks said.

Shelby kicker Matt Grenier was responsible for the only scoring in the first half, his field goal as the second quarter expired giving his team a 3-0 lead.

After punts on its first two possessions in the second half, Shelby inserted Swiss Army knife Kendrick Raper to give Lincolnton something else to address. The move paid off, the Golden Lions moving 58 yards in six plays with a Raper 14-yard TD run giving his team a 9-0 lead early in the fourth.

Needing an answer in the worst way, Lincolnton got off the mat with a scoring drive of its own midway through the fourth. On fourth-and-short from its own 30, quarterback Rashad Lynch found brother R.J. Lynch on a 38-yard pass. Five plays later, Mayfield scored a 3-yard TD to pull his team to within two.

Lincolnton would never get a chance to draw any closer, the Shelby offense holding the ball for the final six-plus minutes to secure the win. On a fourth-and-long with just under two minutes remaining, Golden Lion quarterback Cruz Scott hit wideout Immanuel Collins to move the chains and give them a hard-earned victory.

“I was thinking, if we go for it and don’t get it, they get the ball on the 40-yard line and only need a field goal,” WIlbanks said. “With that team, with those players, they don’t need much time to get that. So making that play was big for us, and fortunately allowed us to get this win.”

Shelby has now won eight consecutive home games and 14 of 15 games overall. More importantly, it keeps the Golden Lions in lockstep with Burns atop Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A with three weeks remaining in the regular season. Both teams are 5-0 in conference play.

The loss dealt Lincolnton's conference title hopes a real blow, the Wolves now two games behind Burns in the league standings.

Shelby (6-1, 5-0 SPC) hosts East Gaston in a Week 9 matchup. Meanwhile, Lincolnton (4-2, 3-2) welcomes Stuart Cramer for a key league contest.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Defense leads way for Shelby football in win over Lincolnton. Here's how