It's been a tough start to head football coach Steve McCoy's tenure at Shelby, but things may have all changed last Friday night at Copeland Field in Ontario.

The Whippets had been 0-12 under McCoy following a winless 2011 season, the first in school history, and an 0-2 start to the 2012 campaign while scoring just six points. But Friday night McCoy's Whippets played like contenders against one of the North Central Conference favorites to win the league.

The Whippets man-handled Ontario from the opening kick, walking off the field 34-14 victors in a game that very few people gave them a chance to compete. The win was a long time coming for McCoy and company and may have given Shelby the spark they needed to turn the corner.

McCoy says the win has given his kids some confidence and they have been practicing at game speeds he has never seen before. Senior running back Andrew Baird was especially impressive at game speed in the win over the Warriors, chalking up 191 yards rushing and two scores on 25 carries.

Baird started at quarterback for Shelby last season, but selflessly moved to running back for the better of the team this year. Filling his shoes behind center is junior Lukas Ousley, who also shined against Ontario with a pair of touchdown runs of his own to go along with some big completions. 

Baird says the transition has been seemless and that he and Ousley have both fit well into their team roles. Even as a junior, Ousley says that he has embraced being a leader along with the rest of the senior class, something players say they lacked on last seasons squad.

One of the leaders of this years squad is a big presence both in the locker room and on the field. Senior left tackle and defensive end Dylan Bailey gives Shelby a physical presence in the trenches at 6' 4" 240 lbs. Bailey is averaging just over 8 tackles and a pancake block per game and says the Whippets are fired up about their win at Ontario and are looking forward to surprising the Golden Bears of Bryan Saturday night.

Shelby dropped their game against Bryan 35-21 last season at Skiles Field, but are looking forward to getting some payback on the road this weekend. The Golden Bears, like the Whippets first three opponents, will again be no slouch. Bryan is off to a 3-0 start while outscoring their opponents by triple figures, 117-17, but McCoy says he actually feels his team has the advantage.

For the first time this season McCoy thinks he will have the bigger, more physical squad on the field and that Shelby's team speed may give Bryan problems. The Whippets will get a chance to prove these theories Saturday night, when they kick off against the Golden Bears at 6 pm, fresh off their first win in over a year.