Rebels continue to rack up wins as October begins

Posted on October 10, 2024 by Taber Times

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

The W.R. Myers Rebels were back at home this past Friday night as the Brooks Buffalos rolled into town. With the Rebels looking to keep their winning streak going, they knew they were going to be in for a good test. On top of facing a good team, the Rebels were also hosting their annual fan appreciation night. Plenty of fans in the stands made it a raucous evening for both teams on the field.

“That was a fun night. It was our annual fan appreciation night, so we had free burgers for the crowd, and it was also our senior night, where we honoured all of our graduating players with pre-game introductions, and individual posters on the side of the football building.  As usual, this means we had a fantastic crowd turnout, and our fans were electric. This night really means a lot to our players, and it seemed to give them some added motivation to perform,” stated Jason Jensen, head coach of the Rebels. “Brooks is a big, strong, physical team, and we knew we were going to have our hands full with them.”

Both defences were tested early and the Rebels were able to hold off any long drivers from the visitors. After a few short outings, the Rebels’ offence finally busted through to put W.R. Myers on the board first.

“Sure enough, things started off tough, with each of our defences holding the offences to short drives. But it wasn’t long before our offence broke through, with senior runningback John Van Uden finding a seam, and weaving his way through their defence for a 45-yard touchdown to open the scoring,” explained Jensen. “That would just be the beginning of an absolutely electric night for John though. After holding the Buffalos to another two and out, it was the younger Van Uden brother, Logan, who was breaking off the big play, running for 50 yards, all the way to the Buffalos five-yard line.  From there, his older brother John finished it off with a five-yard run for his second touchdown of the night as the quarter drew to a close.”

After a big first quarter, the Rebels were hungry for more. But the Buffalos weren’t letting the game get out of hand as they looked to get a few points on the board before the break.

“In the second quarter, the Brooks offence started to find their footing a bit, and kept finding ways to extend their drive when it looked like we had them stopped. They capped that with a 23-yard touchdown run, but we were able to block the PAT attempt, keeping it 14-6. That would turn out to be the halftime score, as our offence was able to chew up a bunch of yards, but just couldn’t break the Buffalos’ defence in the red zone,” said Jensen.

Looking to have an electric start to the second half, the Rebels’ coaching staff were hoping the team came out with plenty of energy. After a bad second half last week against the Crescent Heights Vikings, the Rebels were looking to keep their foot on the pedal in the latter half of the game.

“We’ve had some second-half letdowns the past couple of weeks, so at halftime we really challenged the team to focus on rising and playing stronger in the second half, and boy did they take that message to heart. We came out of the locker room firing, with John Van Uden cracking off a 55-yard run on the second play of the half for his third touchdown of the night, putting us up 21-6,” added Jensen. “On the ensuing kickoff, we pinned them deep, forcing them to concede a rouge for a single point. Of course, the Buffalos weren’t to be outdone, and they answered right back at us with a long touchdown run of their own to narrow things back to 22-13.”

With both offences clicking coming out of the locker room, the Rebels coaching staff was preparing for another high scoring affair. The defence on the other hand had other ideas.

“I was kind of worried about this turning into a shootout here, but our defence went into lockdown mode when it counted. A great defensive stand, coupled with a huge 36-yard punt return by senior Elias Cooper put us right back down in Brooks territory. 4 plays later, it was Cooper again, hauling in a short pass into the endzone from senior quarterback Dane DenHollander to make it 29-13,” said Jensen. “After a couple more two-and-out stands by our defence, we were into the fourth quarter, and the DenHollander-Cooper connection hit again, with a 10-yard touchdown pass, to widen the gap to 43-13.”

Despite a big lead, the Rebels’ defensive unit remained strong. While the Buffalos pushed to try and close the gap, the defence was more than up to the task of keeping a large lead for the home team.

“From there, another two-and-out defensive stand got us the ball back at the midfield. This time the younger Van Uden wasn’t going to let his older brother get the glory, going 54 yards to the endzone for the last major of the day, making it 43-13. The Buffalos weren’t quite done yet, fighting for every yard on one last drive, before our defence forced them to turn the ball over on downs deep in our end. At that point, it was just time to try and grind the clock out for the rest of the game. Of course, nobody told John that, and he broke through on two more big runs, until time drew short enough that we could just kneel out on three plays and let it wind down,” continued Jensen.

With a big night from the running backs, the coaches were all impressed with how effective they were in the game. With over 300 rushing yards, the eldest Van Uden was a big factor in another win for W.R. Myers.

“I’ve got to say, John had one of the most impressive nights I’ve ever seen by a high school running back, rushing for an incredible 322 yards, and three touchdowns. That’s not a stat line you see very often, and something to really be proud of,” added Jensen, who also highlighted several other key performances. “Elias Cooper and Dane DenHollander connected on two passing touchdowns, and Logan VanUden rounded out the scoring with a rushing touchdown of his own. Defensively, linebacker Red Cunanan led the way, with six tackles, followed by senior halfback Carson Hughes with five. Elias Cooper and Nick Binnie each contributed quarterback sacks.”

With another win in the books, the Rebels are approaching the biggest games of the season. An upcoming by-week is a nice needed break from game action, but that doesn’t mean the team will be taking their eyes off the prize.

“That game was tougher than the score might indicate. That Brooks team brought a lot of size and physicality to the table and caused us some trouble. But this might also be the best I’ve seen our guys respond to that type of play this season, and that is something we’re going to need as we get closer to the playoffs. It was a total team effort, with a few less experienced guys having to step in to cover for some injuries, and as a coach that makes me really proud to see how everyone stepped up,” said Jensen. “Now we’re headed into our bye week, which is nice, as we’re still trying to get a few guys healthy and get back to full strength for our last regular season game against the Winston Churchill Bulldogs. From what we’ve seen on film, they have a lot of talent, and we’ll have to be on our toes if we want to keep up with them. We’ll put these next 2 weeks to good use preparing for them, and hopefully have another performance like we did against Brooks.”

The next game action for the Rebels comes on Oct. 18 when the Winston Churchill Bulldogs come to town. Kickoff goes at 7 p.m. at the Ken McDonald Sports Complex.