Rebels begin 2024 campaign on the gridiron

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Taber Times

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

Friday night saw the lights come on as the W.R. Myers Rebels football team looked to begin their season on a strong note. Starting the season with a tough opponent in the Catholic Central Cougars, the Rebels were in tough to get their first win of the season.

“The first game of the season is always a little nerve-wracking. I felt like we had a very good training camp, with good attendance, and effort, but you never really know how well prepared you are until you hit the field against an opponent who is also trying their best to win,” stated Jason Jensen, head coach of the Rebels. “Playing a team like Catholic Central right out of the gate was certainly the kind of test that would tell us where we sit. They’re a perennial powerhouse in the league and are classified as 4A by population, as opposed to our 3A classification, so we are definitely punching up when we step on the field with them. All nerves aside though, I was very excited to see how my guys would respond to the challenge.”

Looking to get off to a fast start, the Rebels started on defence. With a big opening chance to dig in their heels, the Rebels proved to be up to the task as they forced the Cougars into a quick change of possession.

“The game started off very favourably for us, as on the opening drive, our defence forced what looked like a two and out, until linebacker Tony Peters blocked the Cougars punt attempt, giving us fairly good field position for our offence,” stated Jensen.

But the Cougars also showed their defensive prowess and forced the Rebels’ defence back to the field.

“Credit to CCH, their defence came to play as well, and they also held us to a two and out,” added Jensen.

From there, the Rebels were finally able to punch through the defence and make a drive.

“Eventually, the Rebels’ offence would manage to string together a longer drive, capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by senior back Elias Cooper, putting us up 6-0. The Cougars would answer back with a promising drive of their own, but Peters would make the difference again, coming up with an interception deep in Rebels territory,” said Jensen. “The second quarter would see CCH finally break through, as a fumble deep in the Myers end would set up a 20-yard Cougars touchdown pass to tie things up with 9:12 to go.”

To end the first half, both teams would go back and forth before the Rebels once again were able to put up a long drive.

“Both teams would trade series, before the Rebels offence would take over again, grinding out a 12-play, 48-yard drive, culminating in a 19-yard field goal by kicker Carson Becker to put Myers up 9-6 with 33 seconds left in the half. The Cougars would make things exciting though, pulling off a spectacular hook and ladder play to strike deep into Myers territory, but ultimately coming up short as time expired,” stated Jensen. “Going into halftime, we coaches were very impressed by the leadership shown by our captains, as they were able to point out a lot of the keys to a successful second half before we coaches even could. As it was, we stressed that the game was virtually tied, and we needed just as strong of an effort going forward to pull this off.”

It was a good start coming out of the break for the Rebels as their offence went to work. Thanks to a nice long drive, the Rebels found themselves in a great position as the third quarter was down to its final minutes.

“The boys came out determined as we started the half, and our offence strung together a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ate up over half of the third quarter and was again capped off by a Cooper touchdown run, putting us up 16-6 with 5:48 left in the third,” continued Jensen. “On the ensuing kickoff, Becker showed off his truly impressive leg, booting the ball 80 yards through the back of the endzone for a single-point rouge, making the score 17-6. While that is something often seen in professional football, a kickoff rouge is a rare sight in high school football, especially without the aid of the wind.”

The lead, despite being fairly large, was still not overly comfortable heading into the final quarter. The Rebels knew they would see a big push from the Cougars as they looked to get one step closer to tying the game up.

“The change from the third to fourth quarters see CCH go on a long drive of their own, getting deep into Rebels territory, before Becker would play spoiler, picking off a Cougars pass and taking it 85 yards the other way for a touchdown, making the score 23-6,” explained Jensen. “From there, we focused on trying to just grind out the clock, hoping to limit the Cougars’ offence to shorter, time-chewing gains, and doing our best to run the clock when we had the ball. Hats off to them though, they never quit fighting, and eventually connected on another touchdown pass with 56 seconds to go, capping the score at 23-12. After that, our offence just had to run one play, then kneel out twice to finish things off.”

It was a great day for both the offensive and defensive Rebel units as both sides were instrumental in collecting the first win of the season. The coaching staff was thrilled with how the team was able to go out and put on a great performance in the first game.

“Offensively, Elias Cooper led the way with his touchdown passes, while running back John Van Uden toted the heavy load between the tackles, rushing for 155 yards on 28 carries, while Becker contributed scores on both sides of the ball, with a field goal, a rouge, and two interceptions, one for a touchdown,” said Jensen. “Defensively, linebacker Tony Peters had a bit of a coming out party, with a blocked punt and a fumble recovery to go along with three tackles, while rookie linebacker Gavin LePard led the way by getting in on five tackles. Carson Hughes and Logan Van Uden were in on 4 tackles a piece, with Van Uden also forcing a fumble, and defensive tackle Nik Binnie registered the first quarterback sack of the Rebels season.”

With the first week down, the Rebels will be back on the field this coming week. Despite the win, the work will continue as they prepare for their match against Chinook on Friday.

“All in all, I couldn’t be more proud of these players. To have a showing like that against a team like Catholic Central is a huge feather in their cap any time, let alone to start the season. But the time for celebration will be short, as we have to get ready for this week’s opponent, who should be an even tougher test,” explained Jensen. “This Friday night we face the defending league champion Chinook Coyotes in our home opener. Chinook is always big, fast, and skilled, and they always push us to our limit. It’s been a few years since we’ve beaten them, so we’d like to change that. Hopefully, we get a good crowd out to cheer us on.”

The Rebels line up at home at Ken McDonald Sports Complex on Friday night as kickoff goes at 7 p.m. against the Chinook Coyotes.