Myers Rebels heading into playoffs with momentum

W.R. Myers Rebels football team rode its defence to a 14-7 victory over Kate Andrews Pride in Lethbridge last Friday as it preps for playoffs.

“We wanted to win this game. This was a game that put us over .500 so that was nice,” said Adam Hughes, head coach of the W.R. Myers Rebels football team. “The win gave us second place in our division which was a goal we had, so we’re happy with that.”

The Rebels’ defence stiffened after surrendering a 90-yard touchdown pass against the Pride in which Kate Andrews never sniffed the endzone after that.

“They couldn’t move the ball after that. Like our defence has been all year, it has been fantastic. It has been described by different people in Lethbridge as one of the best in the league,” said Hughes. “That is even with the Cardstons and all that. We are pretty proud of that. They had a couple of decent drives, but after the first quarter they didn’t really move it on us.”

Adrian Tams and Dylan Tams scored the majors for the Rebels.

The Rebels now face Winston Churchill Bulldogs in the playoffs with a 5 p.m. game in Lethbridge at the University of Lethbridge on Friday.

The Rebels suffered a 26-point loss to the Bulldogs previously in the season in which the Rebels will look to adapt to attempt to pull off the upset.

“I think we are catching them at a decent time. They have had a couple of tough games back-to-back so we are hoping that with the scouting that we have we can make the adjustments to make it a competitive game and win it,” said Hughes.

“We need to stop their power-running game which they’ve had for the past few years. If we can shut that down, it will be a close game.”

Part of shutting down that power running game is not allowing it to churn up yards in the first place by letting it on the field. Hughes highlighted the Rebels must control the ball possession game to give Bulldogs’ running backs fewer touches to cause damage on the scoreboard.

“That is when we have had success is when we’ve been able to plod along the ground. Last Friday we had two drives that took 10 minutes off the clock so that’s essentially a quarter,” said Hughes. “We need to keep the ball out of their hands as much as we can which would be advantageous. That was something we struggled with the last time we played Winston was we weren’t able to have those drives. Even though our defence played relatively well, they were gassed being on the field for so long.”