Rebels come up short after impressive first half
BY KATIE MCELVY
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
CHAMBERS — It was a tale of two halves on Friday night as the Chambers Academy Rebels hosted Mississippi’s Starkville Academy. The first half saw promising drives, suffocating defense and disciplined play for the Rebels, but for everything that went right in the first half, the opposite happened in the second half.
Chambers’ opening drive completely killed the first quarter, eating up nine minutes and 15 seconds as the Rebels marched 80 yards. The first drive was highlighted by two big runs by newcomer Aiden Tilley, Eli Whorton muscling his way down the field and a 34-yard pass from Hunter Andrews to Cameron Gooden before Peyton Yerta punched in the touchdown. The Rebels also managed to draw the Vols offsides twice in the drive. The Kaisen Nix PAT was good and Chambers led 7-0.
The Rebels then unleashed Jack Nelms to start the second quarter. Nelms had a seven-yard gain, a first down run and a 45-yard trek that set up the Andrews touchdown. This score put Chambers up 13-0 to end the first half.
The Rebel defense was no less impressive, only allowing three first downs in the entire first half. Colton Fuller squashed one drive with an interception, and Drew Sheppard pressured the quarterback on the Vols’ last drive of the half, causing a 30-yard loss coupled with an intentional grounding penalty as time expired.
The second half told an entirely different story. If it could go wrong for the Rebels, it did go wrong. An offensive pass interference on Chambers and a personal foul on the punt gave Starkville a short field to set up their first score of the game and cut the lead 13-7.
The Vol’s next drive saw a play reminiscent of a prayer at Jordan-Hare, where a ball that looked to be picked off by Chambers somehow found its way into the hands of a Starkville receiver to set up another touchdown and give the Vols a 13-14 lead.
Chambers’ offense could not get anything going in most of the second half, but the defense found its footing again midway through the fourth quarter and forced a punt. However, the punt was muffed, giving the ball back to Starkville. The Chambers’ defense held though.
With the clock winding down, the Rebels marched down the field and set up a field goal attempt as time expired. Unfortunately, the ball went wide right, and Chambers fell 13-14.
“It was a tough way to lose,” said head coach Jason Allen. “I thought we dominated the first half, but it’s a game of two halves. Late in the third quarter, we lost the field position battle and ultimately the momentum after they scored on a short field. I thought we lost our poise a little bit. Our kids played hard, and we were very physical, probably the more physical team, but we made some critical mistakes that let them back in it. We will learn and get better. It’s a long season, and I still like our team.”
Nelms led the offense on the ground with 86 yards on eight carries. Through the air, Andrews completed eight of 11 passes for 70 yards.
Drew Sheppard led the defense with eight tackles and two sacks, followed by Bryce Modling and Fuller with seven tackles each and Eli Whorton and Kent Nelson with six tackles each.
Chambers will travel to Oxford, Alabama, to face Hope Christian in their first ever match up. Hope is a new team to the AISA.
“I don’t know much about them, but I can promise our kids will be ready to play,” said Allen.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
