The Rebels had three good days of work last week and finished the workouts with a scrimmage against Crockett County. McKenzie showed lots of improvement from its Humboldt scrimmage nearly two weeks ago.

"We looked a lot better, but we still have a long way to go," said McKenzie football coach Wade Comer. "We could use two more weeks, but we had a lot of bright spots and we had a lot of people who stepped to the forefront."

The Rebels were looking for help at linebacker and on the line. Comer thinks he's found some players who fit that role.

"Nothing is etched in stone, but young kids played better and the kids stepped up," he said. "There's a lot more competition and we may have a little more depth than we had last year. I was pleased with what we accomplished this year."

Comer said he now has a better idea about who can perform and the thing that pleases him is that there are a lot of people in his fold who can go.

But the work isn't finished for the Rebels. They will continue their off-season conditioning, weight work and roadwork. McKenzie will host its lift-a-thon sometime in early May.

"We'll hit the weights hard and try to develop more speed," Comer said. "We'll work on footwork and speed."

This summer, McKenzie will take part in the passing league. That action will begin the first of June and will go on throughout the summer. Then the Rebels will return to the practice field in late July to prepare for the 2004 season.

"This year, the season starts a week earlier than it did last year," Comer said. "It's going to get here in a hurry."

The Rebels will sport its first high school boys' soccer team and they open the season this week.

The Rebs are coached by George Ognibene and Bethel coach Kerry Brimmo and will play a 10-game schedule. McKenzie has its home opener Thursday when Trinity Christian comes to town for a 4:30 match. All MHS home matches will be played at Bethel College.

Ognibene says the Rebels aren't just green; in fact several of the players have some experience on the soccer pitch.

"Everybody has played something, either junior high or in the city league," said the coach. "Basically, all the kids have had prior experience. Everybody out there has some knowledge about the game."

Soccer has thrived at the middle school level for several years.
"This is something folks have wanted," Ognibene said. "They got it together and decided to give it a try. It's going to be a trial and error thing."

Twenty-one players are taking part in pre-season drills and they've been acquainting themselves with the finer points of the game. Brimmo and Ognibene have done some short-field work on offense, defense, passing and other fundamentals.

"It's not like we are starting from absolutely nothing," said the coach. "We have a young team, but they can pass, shoot and play defense."

Pre-season emphasis has been on getting the kids well versed in soccer. Most teams McKenzie will be playing could well be in mid-season form when they play.

"We are really working on how to play the game," Ognibene said. "We are working with the goalies on different drills. We are playing on a short field until we get everything going."

Ognibene expressed gratitude toward Brimmo's expertise. Brimmo has international experience playing for the Jamaican national team and training under prestigious international coaches.

"It's always good to have someone knowledgeable about the game," he said. "I really didn't know anything about soccer and I'm learning from him. Kerry has been a tremendous asset and I tell the kids every day that they don't know how fortunate they are."

The Rebels will host JCS on April 6 and Martin on April 15. Trenton comes to McKenzie on April 29 and Madison Magnet visits MHS on May 6. The Rebels will take part in the North Division of District 14A-AA and will play the district tournament in mid May.

"We don't know what's going to happen," said Ognibene. "We'll just play it and see how it goes."