​TOUCHDOWN SHELBY!!!! Michael Shepherd takes it 5 yards for the score!!! Shelby leads Perkins 20-14 after a blocked PAT!! 48 seconds left!!!! https://t.co/vH8J4MOTCP— Jake Furr (@JakeFurr11) November 14, 2026SHELBY — When the Shelby Whippets found themselves down by a touchdown with five minutes to go in their Division IV Region 14 semifinal game against Perkins, they knew it was go time.And each one of them knew they needed to make a play if they wanted their season to continue. In a 20-14 victory, plenty of Whippets stepped up to make big plays in key moments of the game.It’s what they have done all season long.SACK KING: Bradley focused on more than view from atop NCAA football’s sack list “There is something about this team,” Shelby coach Rob Mahaney said. “Whether it was being down against Pleasant or not having Michael Shepherd for two weeks and finding a way against Bellevue and Galion and again tonight. We have guys who stepped up and made plays and it is a collective group effort. “Our 23 seniors do their jobs, trust each other and I couldn’t be more proud.”After trailing 14-7 heading into the fourth quarter, the first big clutch play came when Michael Shepherd connected with Griffin Yeager for an 18-yard gain on third and 8 with 10:37 left in the game. It ignited the Whippets to cap off a 13-play, 68-yard drive with a one-yard TD run from Shepherd on fourth and goal to tie it at 14 apiece.After the defense forced a punt, the Whippets again came up with a big offensive play when Shepherd completed a pass through two Perkins defenders and into the hands of Jaiden Wilson on third and 10 for 16 yards to convert a first down. Two plays later, Shepherd found Brady Bowman for a 44-yard gain with 1:06 left and Shelby knocking on the door at the Perkins 6-yard line. Shepherd finished off the drive with a 6-yard TD run to give the Whippets their first lead of the game and, eventually, the win.Bowman ended with four catches for 46 yards as the other three catches didn’t have much working.“We really couldn’t get anything going all game, but coming down to the last two minutes, I just know I needed to make a play,” Bowman said. “Michael trusted me. We ran the play earlier and I was in a different position, so we knew what the safety was going to do. It worked out.”Mahaney though the two catches from his two receivers on the drive was the difference in the game.“Jaiden Wilson’s catch was unbelievable, Brady tracking that ball after not being able to get him involved all game because he had three guys guarding him and then makes that catch,” Mahaney said. “At halftime, we switched Conner (Hartz) to the single side. “Give a ton of credit to our kids.”That includes sophomore Luke Blevins and senior Gavin Garrett. With Perkins threatening to put together a game-winning drive down to the Shelby 33-yard line, Blevins came up with the winning play with a  strip sack in which Garrett dove on the loose ball to create the