A new season is upon us and it seems earlier every year. We have been working hard at preparing for this season and on Monday, August 20th, it all got going. We started fall football camp the last week in July. The kids and coaches have been working very hard. Now it was time to see how far along we are and how much further we can go. Denver was our first test.

It was evident that each team was excited to be on the field for the first time against an opponent. There were some mistakes made and the execution was certainly not where you would want it to be, but as the game moved into the second quarter, things calmed down. The Rebels were moving the ball all over the field but just could not get it into the endzone. That was the case all night long as we were defeated by a very fine Denver Cyclone group by a score of 14-0. We have a long way to go and these kids have a ton of potential but conditioning and discipline will be very important in the next coming weeks. We have to push through the tough times both physically and mentally. We must keep our focus and intensity to continue to live up to some high expectations. We have a ton of work to do but for the most part the coaching staff was pretty happy with this outing.

We ended the night with 141 yards on the ground and 142 through the air. These are pretty good totals but the problem was punching the ball into the end zone. Eric Stoakes, Cam Murphy, Bennett Petersen, and Kainen Hendricks took care of the ground game for us. Cam Kickbush, Jake Schuman and Brady Kuehl took care of the quarterback chores and the receiving was done by Logan Flamme, Jeff Tscherter, Jake Mohlis, Josh Cooley, Austin Lott, Carter Murphy and Brock Bystricky. The Blutos up front are Logan Phillips, Dalton Scwartz, Ty Eiffler, Luke Holman, Shye Johnston, Bryce Ehlers, Cameron Clark, Hunter Wegner and Bryce Clark.

It was a gorgeous August 27th summer evening and the Rebels were headed south to LeGrand to take on the East Marshall Mustangs. With a new coaching change for East Marshall we were not sure what to expect.

The game started out well and we came out and scored on the first drive of the night on a 6 yard Eric Stoakes run. We added the PAT to go up 8-0 early. Eric then added another TD run of 20 yards to make it 16-0 early in the second quarter. East Marshall then mounted a drive of their own to pull within 16-6 but that was all the closer the Mustangs would get on this night. Cam Kickbush added a long 50 yard TD run and we were cruising along with a 24-6 lead. Stoakes added two more scores and East Marshall put one on the board late to come to the final of 36-12 moving us to 1-1 on the year.

Eric Stoakes lead us with 111 yards on the ground, had 3 catches for 49 yards, and 4 touchdowns. Cameron Murphy, Kainen Hendricks and Bennett Petersen added another 57 on the ground along with Cam’s 50 yard TD for a total of 218 rushing yards. Brady Kuehl was 4 of 9 for 67 yards while Cam had a completion for 25 to account for our passing yardage. Cameron and Logan Flamme hauled in the other 2 completions. Logan also was co-team leader in tackles with 4 along with Bryce Ehlers and Dalton Schwartz. Logan and Josh Cooley each had an interception in the game to make up the turnover margin. Brady, Luke Holman, and Bryce Clark each had 3 stops each followed by Cam, Eric, Cameron, Bennett, Josh, Ty Eiffler and Cameron Clark with 2 each. Carter Murphy, Hunter Wegner, Jeff Tscherter, Logan Phillips and Austin each made 1 tackle each to aid our defensive cause.

Labor Day always plays havoc with football and schedules. Our normal routine of Monday games is always disrupted this week. 2012 is no exception as we hosted our rivals to the north, the Wolverines of Dike New Hartford. Coach Betts and all of his long time coaches have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with each and every year. This year is another example of a very good program so we knew it would take a great effort from us for us to be successful.

The game actually started out a little sloppy as each team either had turnovers or just could not move the ball after entering the red zone. DNH took advantage of a good punt return and scored the first score of the night to go up 8-0. The Rebels responded with a good return and a good drive to get into the end zone to pull within 8-6 as the first quarter time ran out. Each team scored twice in the second quarter and our two scores came off a 94 yard kickoff return and a 65 yard run from scrimmage by Eric Stoakes to make it 20-18 at the break. Coaches Trunck, Formanek and McNew made some adjustments at the half and also some inspirational comments which seemed to do the trick as the Rebels came out with a vengeance. This third quarter was the best these guys have played all year and possibly their life. We controlled both sides of the ball at the line of scrimmage which equates to a two touchdown quarter giving us a 32-20 edge with 10 minutes to go. We continued our fine play until about the 4 minute mark when DNH marched a drive to pull with in 6. We received the kickoff and proceeded to run some clock while proceeding to make first downs up to about midfield. We stalled and were forced to put with 50 seconds remaining. DNH came after us and blocked the punt and had the ball at our 35 yard line with no time outs left. Brady Kuehl then sealed the deal with and interception to ice it. The Rebels held on for a very impressive victory 32-26 to move us to 2-1 on the year. It was a battle all night between a two rival opponents and also the hot, humid weather. I think everyone saw how much effort and heart these kids put into this one.

Offensively we were held by Eric with 19 carries for 180 yards and 3 scores. Kainen Hendricks added 25 yards on the ground while Cam Kickbush plowed for 18 himself. Cam was also 4 of 10 passing for 79 yards and a TD. Josh Cooley caught 3 balls for 43 yards and Jeff Tscherter made a very nice 36 yard grab to get us out of a hole in the first half. These numbers put us at 302 total yards for the game which is really good and should speak a lot for our Blutos up front in the offensive line. These guys worked hard all night and got the job done.

Defensively we had Bryce Ehlers, Logan Flamme, and Cam Murphy lead the way with 7 tackles each. Bryce, Josh, and Bennett Petersen all recovered fumbles with Bennett’s being for a TD after a blocked punt. Brady had his INT and also 6 tackles. Dalton Schwartz 5,Bennett, Luke Holman, and Ty Eiffler 4, Cam K and Austin Lott 3, Josh,Cameron Clark, and Jake Schuman 2, Bryce Clark, Carter Murphy, Eric, Logan Phillips, Kainen, Jeff, and Shye Johnston each had 1 stop apiece. Great job guys and keep working at getting better every day.

Fresh-Soph Rebel Football

On Thursday we made the trip to Dike New Hartford to take on the Wolverines again. We just played them on Tuesday in a JV match up but now it was the fresh-soph’s turn. We had hoped that the effort and outcome would be the same.

We started very slowly as we just never could get anything going. We were just not all on the same page. Our running game was stagnant and our passing game was non existent. We were not blocking or tackling with any intensity or focus. We would have 5 guys doing the right thing and 6 guys not and that is how this night winded down. We were dominated by the Wolverines to the tune of 28-6. They ran about 3 times the plays offensively than we did and held a huge advantage in total yards and time of possession. We ended the evening with a dismal 24 total yards. We need to have that intensity and focus every time out to be successful and improve our game. We must improve in this area immediately.

Jake Schuman completed 3 passes for 52 yards and a score to Cam Murphy late in the fourth quarter. Cam also chipped in with 26 yards rushing. Kainen Hendricks added 5 rushing yards and 6 tackles on defense. Logan Flamme hauled in a Schuman pass to finish off our offensive stats. Eric Stoakes led the way with 9 tackles followed by Cam with 8. Bryce Ehlers 6, Hunter Wegner and Logan Phillips 5, Bryce Clark and Dalton Schwartz 4, Shye Johnston and Luke Holman 3, Bennett Petersen, Jeff Tscherter, and Carter Murphy 2, and Ty Eiffler had a stop to finish these off, Jake Mohlis and Brock Bystricky also saw time on both sides of the ball. Shye and Bryce Clark also each recovered a fumble for us.

Our next action will be Monday September 17 at The Pit at Gladbrook against the Comets from BCLUW. Kick off is set for 6 p.m.. Hope to see you on the sidelines.