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Finishing as Region 6-AA
champs, the Rebels earned the
right to host the first two
rounds at Rebel Field. Round one
pitted the Region 5-AA fourth
place team in the state against
fourth ranked McKenzie. Horrible field conditions may
have played into the hands of
the visitors. A hard rain fell
through the first two quarters,
creating a mud bath by half.
McKenzie could not run the
option oriented offense due to
the field conditions. The Rebels
threw the ball only four times.
Senior Howard Nolen, who has
seen limited action this year,
was the Rebels rushing leader
with 106 yards. Most of the
Rebels big plays came outside
the tackles as their big
offensive front could not dig
into the mud.
Three big plays by McKenzie
propelled the Big Red into round
two. Mitchell Hall's 60-yard
touchdown reception, Taylor
Holland's 29-yard run and Shiron
Perkins 47-yard run were enough
offense to put the Yellowjackets
in the 24-8 victory.
Fairview won the toss and
deferred its selection until the
second half. The ball was kicked
to the twenty-five and returned
to the thirty-five for ten
yards. McKenzie began its drive
with a first down hand-off to
David Duncan who set the tone
for the contest. Duncan appeared
to have running room, but the
slippery turf caused only a
three-yard gain. On second down,
Brannon Milton could dig out
only two yards. Facing a third
and five, Holland found a
slanting Hall in the Fairview
secondary. Hall made the catch
in the rain and outran the
defensive secondary for a
60-yard Rebel touchdown (his
13th reception this season for
299 yards and two touchdowns).
With 11:03 remaining in the
first quarter, the Rebels PAT
was blocked by a host of
defenders who filtered through
the line and tipped the ball
away.
First Quarter
McKenzie 6-Fairview 0
A deep kick by Howard Nolen
backed Fairview up to its own
four-yard line. A first down
carry by Cothran was fumbled,
but recovered by the
Yellowjackets. On second and
third down, Fairview lost a
combined four yards and on
fourth down, they punted from
the end zone. The wet ball
traveled only 25 yards. McKenzie
took over and instantly created
offense. Holland found the
outside and outdistanced the
entire defense for the Rebels
second score in only four plays.
Holland's 29-yard touchdown came
at the 8:40 mark of the first
quarter. The two-point
conversion, run by Perkins was
stalled at the one-yard line.
First Quarter
McKenzie 12-Fairview 0
For the remainder of the first
quarter, Fairview was unable to
generate any offense. Cothran
managed a 12-yard gain as the
first quarter concluded.
McKenzie began the second
quarter in Yellowjacket
territory at the 43-yard line. A
fumble by the Rebels gave the
Yellowjackets a bit of light as
they took over at McKenzie's
45-yard line. Three big runs by
Cothran put the ball at the
Rebel 19. Cothran again found
running room as the Rebel
defense was unable to wrap up
the elusive tailback. Fairview
scored on a 19-yard run with
9:14 remaining in the half. The
two-point conversion by Victor
Douglas was successful.
Second Quarter
McKenzie 12-Fairview 8
McKenzie's next possession
lasted nine plays and chewed out
a big hunk of the clock. The
drive began at the Rebel 30-yard
line. Senior Nolen ran the ball
eight consecutive times. The
offensive front of the McKenzie
line was able to open holes for
the running back. Nolen ground
out runs of six, three, one, 11,
26, six, one and two yards. With
the ball at the ten-yard line,
Holland (826 rushing yards, 12
touchdowns) bounced into the end
zone for a difference-making
touchdown. With 3:53 remaining
in the half, Milton was stopped
just short of the goal line on
the two-point conversion
attempt.
Second Quarter
McKenzie 18-Fairview 8
Halftime statistics were
relatively close. McKenzie had
23 rushes for 126 yards and were
one of two passing for 60 yards.
Fairview ran 19 times for 75
yards and was two of five
passing for 34 yards. At
intermission, McKenzie had a
total of 187 yards to Fairview's
109.
Even though the rain held up in
the final two quarters, field
conditions continued to worsen.
Luckily both teams were able to
hold on to the football.
However, Fairview was guilty of
a couple of fourth quarter
interceptions.
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The Yellowjackets began the
second half with offensive
possession from its own 28-yard
line. Junior Aaron Cothran put
the running burden on his back.
Fairview found a weakness in the
Rebels defense and Cothran
ground out 20 yards on the first
drive of the second half.
McKenzie finally stopped the
12-play drive with a fourth and
sixteen at near midfield. A deep
punt put the Rebels back at
their own 13-yard line. An
extremely costly 15-yard penalty
caused a McKenzie fourth down
punt.The fourth quarter began with
Fairview in possession.
Quarterback Adam Wynne was able
to complete three passes late in
the third quarter. But two
consecutive incompletions were
well defended by Perkins and
Nolen and Fairview gave the ball
back to McKenzie at the Rebel
30-yard line.
On first down, Milton got the
cal and was halted for no gain.
Perkins ran the next five plays,
gaining six, seven, six and five
yards. Holland rolled right and
threw back across the field to
Duncan, who caught the
eight-yard pass and was tackled
at the Fairview 47-yard line. On
third down, a Holland to Perkins
pitch wound up on the home
sidelines. Perkins (820 yards
and five TD's for the year) ran
past the first defender and then
went the distance for the
47-yard touchdown with 7:11
remaining on the clock. Nolen
attempted the two-point
conversion but came up a yard
short.
Fourth Quarter
McKenzie 24-Fairview 8
Nolen carried the ball the
remainder of the fourth quarter.
He had seven carries for 27
yards in the Rebels final two
drives. The Yellowjackets final
two drives were short-lived as
Josh Stenberg and Duncan
intercepted errant Fairview
passes.
With 16 teams remaining in the
run for a title, the Rebels will
entertain the Loretto Mustangs
to determine which will be one
of the final eight.
Loretto is coming off a 19-13
victory over the Riverside
Panthers. The Region 5-AA
Mustangs are currently at five
wins and six losses. Head Coach
John Jacobs has 31 upperclassmen
(12 senior, 19 juniors). As
usual, the Mustangs also have
outstanding size, including
Michael Newton, Michael Pierce,
Matt Beard, Randy Riley, Shane
Wooten, and Eric Williams who
help anchor the offensive and
defensive lines.
Ben Daugherty will be the
left-handed quarterback. Josh
Brown will play wing back and is
the team's fastest player. At
end will be junior Barrett
Earnest. Derek Green will man
the tight end duties.
Loretto finished the 2000 season
at four wins and six losses. The
team lost in the playoffs in
1995 and 1996 in the
quarterfinal round. The Rebels
and Mustangs will kickoff at
7:00 p.m. this Friday night at
Rebel Field.
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Game Statistics |
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Rebels |
Yellowjackets |
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First Downs |
12 |
10 |
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Yards Rushed |
39/225 yards |
39/124
yards |
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Yards Passed |
2/4/68 yards |
5/13/57 yards |
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Total Yards |
293 |
181 |
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Punts |
3/35.0 avg |
5/32.0 avg |
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Fumbles |
1, lost 1 |
1, lost 0 |
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Score by Quarter |
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Rebels |
12 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
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Yellowjackets |
0 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
McKenzie-Fairview Record
McKenzie 1-0
Coach Wade Comer's Record
22 wins, 2 losses
McKenzie's overall record,
1940-present:
305 wins, 324 losses, 14 ties
Individual Games Statistics:
REBEL RUSHING:
Howard
Nolen: 20 carries, 106 yards
Shiron
Perkins, 9 carries, 78 yards, 1
TD
Taylor Holland: 4 carries,
21 yards, 2 TD's
Brannon
Milton: 5 carries, 17 yards
David Duncan: 1 carry, 3 yards.
REBEL RECEIVING:
Mitchell Hall:
1 reception, 60 yards, 1 TD
David Duncan: 1 reception, 8
yards.
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