Rebels look to rebound in Week 3

Posted on September 18, 2025 by Taber Times

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

After a tough test in Week 1, the W.R. Myers Rebels football team were in for another all-out battle in Week 2. On Sept. 5, the Rebels welcomed the Cardston Cougars in their 2025 home opener at Ken McDonald Memorial Sports Complex. Despite dropping their first game 55-14 against the Catholic Central Cougars, the Rebels were looking for a strong rebound to get in the win column. Unfortunately, the Rebels were on the losing side again, falling 49-14. 

Losing two weeks in a row put the Rebels in a tough spot heading into Week 3, where they faced the Strathmore Spartans. On the road once again, the Rebels were on their heels but looking for some momentum to turn their season around. 

“We have definitely had a rough start to the season. Opening against Catholic Central and Cardston, we had taken back-to-back losses, both by pretty wide margins. We’re a pretty young team overall, and you kind of worry how two tough losses in a row might affect the psyche of a team like that,” explained Jason Jensen, head coach of the Rebels. “To make matters worse, going into this week, we were dealing with a rash of injuries and illnesses, leaving us a little understaffed, and with a few players not quite at 100 per cent, but trying their best to tough things out. In front of us, we had a Strathmore team that had had a similar start to us, so we were at least hoping for a good, evenly matched game to get back on track. To say we got that was an understatement.”

Looking for a faster starter, the Rebels were hopeful to gain a lead as the visiting team. Thanks to some great early offence, the Rebels were able to score first.

“Things started off well for us, with a five-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a touchdown run by rookie running back Harmon Pierson. Our defence then took the field and forced the Spartans to turn the ball over on downs. The offence got right back to work, with another five-play drive which saw senior back Logan Van Uden finding the endzone on a long run of his own,” added Jensen. “Now, a start like that might break the back of a lot of teams, but my hat is off to that Strathmore squad. They came right back and answered with a sequence of their own that mirrored ours. A quick touchdown, followed by a strong defensive series, and then another quick touchdown right as the quarter flipped, putting the score at 14-14.” 

With a tie game after being up early, the Rebels were in need of a strong turnaround to get things back on track. Unfortunately, the second quarter saw the Spartans continue to find the end zone.

“The Spartans’ coaches had obviously made some good, quick adjustments, and it certainly didn’t help that the heat was causing some problems for a few of our players who had been sick, combined with a couple of injuries. They really turned up the pressure on us, with a penalty-aided drive resulting in a field goal, and then managing to break contain for a long run, leading to a touchdown, and sending us into halftime down 14-24,” said Jensen. 

Heading into the break, the Rebels were in tough yet again as they needed a big bounce back in the second half. Backs against the wall, the coaching staff was hoping to see their team respond in a big way.

“I’m not going to lie, I was a little concerned going into the half. Being down again, combined with the injuries, and the heat leaving some of our recovering guys completely gassed, this was a real gut check moment for our guys. We challenged them to rise to the occasion, keep plying hard, and find a way to turn things around. Meanwhile, we coaches went to work making a few adjustments and making contingency plans for if any other players went down. I can say these boys really showed me what they had,” continued Jensen. 

Both offences came out firing in the second half as the Rebels and Spartans looked to outduel each other to get the win.

“The second half of this game turned into a wild shootout. The Spartans got the ball first, and our defence made a good showing for themselves, forcing a punt that gave the ball to us at our own 30-yard line. From there, the offence went back to work, driving down the field, and capping it with another Pierson touchdown run, to narrow things to 21-24. The Strathmore offence answered right back, though, managing to break into the endzone after a hard goal-line stand by our defence. From there, our offence turned things right back around as Pierson broke off a 56-yard run for a touchdown, followed by a successful two-point hookup from Quarterback Austin Pierson to receiver Gavin LePard, to make it 29-31 as the quarter drew to an end,” stated Jensen. 

The Rebels were starting down a massive fourth quarter as they desperately needed to stave off an 0-3 start. 

“The fourth quarter ended up even more exciting than the third, as after our defence forced a two-and-out, the offence went back to work with a five-play, 66-yard drive that culminated in yet another Harmon Pierson touchdown to finally re-take the lead. A missed two-point conversion attempt left the score at 35-31 for the Rebels. Of course, Strathmore would answer right back, going down the field for a touchdown of their own to take the lead back. Thankfully, our defence was able to show its mettle again, blocking the extra point and holding them to only a two-point lead,” said Jensen. “The back and forth continued from there, with another five-play, 60-yard drive from the Rebels, and another Pierson touchdown to flip it the lead back our way, at 42-37. The defence hit the field with ferocity, pinning the Spartans deep, and forcing them to concede a safety, making it 44-37 with 2:34 to go in the game.”

The Rebels got the ball back and made the Spartans pay, but Strathmore wasn’t going down without a fight.

Getting the ball back, Van Uden took off again for 60 60-yard touchdown run, putting us up 51-37 with 1:23 to go. Now, if anyone thought the Strathmore squad was done at this point, they were sorely mistaken. A couple of fantastic catches saw them back in the endzone, narrowing things to 51-44 with 34 seconds to go. Of course, everyone knew that an onside kick attempt would be coming, so the nerves were pretty high here. Thankfully, our kick return team was able to dive on the short-kicked ball and give the offence the opportunity to just kneel things out and kill the clock,” stated Jensen. 

Looking back, the coaching staff was ecstatic with how their team was able to navigate its way to win after back-and-forth lead changes. 

“Man, I’ve been coaching for a lot of years, and that might be the wildest game I’ve ever been a part of. I have nothing but respect for that Strathmore team, as they gave us everything they had and never stopped coming. And of course, I couldn’t be prouder of my boys. They managed to dig down deep, fight through some serious adversity, and find a way to get the win when we needed it. And most importantly, I think they proved something to themselves,” continued Jensen. “A lot of guys got their first real high school game experience in this one, and a few guys were tasked with playing out of position, and just making the best of things. Still, they found a way to get it done, and that is very impressive. Now it looks like we’ve really got the offence rolling, but the defence obviously has some kinks that we need to work out, so we’ll head back to the drawing board this week, as we look to host a very tough Brooks Buffalos team on Friday night. Hopefully we can get things dialled to where we want them to be, as I’m sure we’re going to get everything we can handle once again,” finished Jensen. 

The Rebels host the Brooks Buffalos for Week 4 on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Ken McDonald Memorial Sports Complex.