Gladbrook-Reinbeck junior Drew Eilers (2) is congratulated by teammates Hunter Roberts (22) after sacking GMG quarterback Slate Witte, left, during the first half of last Friday’s 8-Man District 4 football game in Garwin. The sixth-ranked Rebels defeated the Wolverines 62-16 to improve to 7-1 overall this season. PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

GARWIN — Gladbrook-Reinbeck football didn’t take long to get back on its feet.

After a loss at home to Clarksville that decided the 8 Player District 4 title, the Rebels bounced back with a 62-16 win in the regular season finale at GMG.

The Rebels finished 7-1 overall, 5-1 in district play and will advance to the postseason as the district runner-up, facing Montezuma in the first-round this Friday at 7 p.m. in Gladbrook.

“It was a tough loss last week,” said G-R senior Isaac Clark. “So everyone was just a lot more focused in practice this week, our coaches didn’t really need to get on us, we just did a lot of the little things and were really locked in.”

Clark ran in two scores and threw for one more to Hudson Clark in a first-half dominated by the Rebels from start to finish, beginning with a long kickoff return for a touchdown by freshman Treyvon Herron for an 8-0 lead 13 seconds into the game.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck receiver Hudson Clark (3) and GMG defensive back Rider Kupka (21) battle for possession of a pass during the first half of last Friday’s football game in Garwin. Clark caught the ball for a touchdown as the Rebels rolled to a 62-16 victory. PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

G-R led 28-0 after the first quarter and pumped it to 50-0 at the halftime horn.

“G-R’s a great team, and we gave them a lot of short fields,” GMG head coach Devon Diederichs said. “They did a great job on special teams with returns and that’s a credit to Coach [John] Olson and his staff.”

Drew Eilers added a couple touchdown runs and Austin Vaverka, Hudson Clark and Herron each had one touchdown run a piece.

GMG didn’t roll over in the second half, picking up touchdowns on a Slate Witte pass to Jabari Woodbury on fourth-and-goal to start the fourth quarter and a Witte scramble where the senior eluded multiple Rebel tackles and switched fields for the score.

“We told the guys at halftime that we weren’t gonna give up,” Diederichs said. “The guys came out and said they were going to keep fighting and that’s all I can ask for, I can’t question the effort.”

The Wolverines are not eligible for the playoffs at 3-5 overall and 2-4 in district but will play a ninth game at West Central in Maynard next Thursday.

Friday was the final home game for seniors Jabari Woodbury, Slate Witte, Anthony Waters, Austin Pencil, Matthew DeSchamp and Kaleb Gill.

“Slate’s been a phenomenal leader for us,” Diederichs said. “You can’t tell he’s a first year quarterback. Jabari’s been consistent all the way through, a very quiet leader but one that puts in the work every single day. Matthew and Austin are big vocal leaders for us, Anthony Waters lives in the weight room, set a culture for that, and Kaleb unfortunately got injured but didn’t call it a season, he continued to show up to practice and fight. Those six are something I’ll forever be grateful for.”