Rebels back on the gridiron for 2024 season

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

School is right around the corner and the W.R. Myers Rebels football team has been hard at preparing for the new season. After a great 2023 season, the returning players are ready to have a deep playoff run once again. Another exciting thing this fall is that a few of their graduating players have progressed to the next level of football. Two former Rebels have joined university squads and are hoping to provide their teams with high caliber play they brought to the Rebels.

“We’re coming off of a very strong season, with another zone championship, and a Provincial bronze medal to show for it,” stated Jason Jensen, head coach of the Rebels. “For the first time in a long time, we had graduating players head off to the USports ranks, with lineman Tyson Harker being picked up by the University of Guelph Gryphons, and linebacker Allen Clements playing for the University of Waterloo Warriors, and that’s something that we’re extremely proud of.”

But with those departures, it means the Rebels once again have significant holes to fill across their lineup. The combination of returning players and rookies has the coaching staff excited though as they look to once again be one of the premier teams in southern Alberta.

“Of course, that also means that we have some big spots left vacant, and not just from those two, as we graduated a ton of great talent. But of course, that happens every year. To offset that, we also have a lot of good athletes returning, such as senior receiver/linebacker Elias Cooper, senior quarterback Dane DenHollander, and two-way line anchor Jess Nielsen,” added Jensen.

The good news for the football program is they have plenty of new players coming out to find their spot in the lineup. This summer has seen tons of interest in playing football which means the coaches have a big number of players to sort through which helps them put each player in spots to succeed.

“To go along with that, we’ve seen the best turnout in numbers that we’ve had in decades, if not ever, with 38 players currently on the roster. That means there are a bunch of players chomping at the bit to try and win those open positions. My favourite part of training camp is watching to see who steps up and fills those roles, and so far this year it has been very exciting,” continued Jensen.

As per usual, the Rebels will begin their season right off the rip with some stiff competition. This week sees the team jump into their first game and it’s certain to be a tough matchup to kick off the 2024 schedule.

“This week we’ll put it all to the test, as we’re jumping straight into the deep end to open the season, meeting the Catholic Central Cougars in Lethbridge on Friday night. They’re a 4A team by population, while we’re a 3A team, so we’re really punching up to start things off here,” explained Jensen. “They have a new head coach, who I am sure has some fresh wrinkles to throw into their game, and they have a ton of high-end athletic talent. Adding to that, we beat them in a nail-biter of a game last year, so I would imagine they’re highly motivated to get revenge. Needless to say, we’ll have our work cut out for us.”

New strategies are going to be deployed against the Rebels come Friday, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be ready with their own fresh sets of playbooks for both offence and defence. The coaching staff has already been hard at work to update playbooks for 2024.

“We have a lot of exciting talent as well, and myself, Offensive Coordinator Quintin Cheverie, and Special Teams Coordinator Ashton Werewka have some new plans of our own. It should be a great game, and I’m very excited to see what this new crop of talent can do,” stated Jensen.

Kickoff against the Catholic Central Cougars goes at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night at the University of Lethbridge Community Stadium.