Rebels overcome miscues to defeat Colts
BY KATIE MCELVY
FOR THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Rain clouds rolled into Hope Hull on Friday about thirty minutes before kickoff as Chambers Academy travelled to face off against Hooper Academy at Davis Henry Field on Sept. 11.
While the damp conditions made the ground wet enough to cause some trouble in the first quarter for the No. 2-ranked Rebels (3-1), it didn’t prevent them from pulling away from the No. 7 Colts (2-2) 35-20.
Even with a comfortable final margin of victory, Chambers head coach Jason Allen said he was not satisfied with the result and wanted his players to focus more on executing their specific assignments.
“I thought we had too many penalties, which is a lack of discipline. I thought we were no good in kickoff coverage as well, [but] those are all things that can be corrected,” Allen said. “Defensively, we didn’t play up to our expectations. We had guys trying to do too much instead of just doing their jobs. This’ll be a great film to learn from. We were able to run the ball well and were efficient throwing the ball. We have to get better and become more consistent as a team.”
After starting the game at their own 15 yard line, the Rebels bobbled the opening snap, which placed them inside their own 10.
Chambers was eventually forced to punt, which gave the Colts good field position at the Chambers 42 yard line. While Hooper marched down the field, the Rebels managed to hold them to just a field goal.
Down 3-0 early in the game, Chambers’ Cobie Whatley made an extended return on the kickoff, taking the ball near midfield and giving the Rebels excellent field position. From there, Trey Tigner quickly added two solid runs, but a holding penalty appeared to kill the drive.
Chambers lined up in punt formation and faked the Colts out by snapping the ball to Bryce Modling — who finished the game with four catches for 105 yards — to pick up the first down on the trick play. Braxton Terry then found Hunter Andrews for a 25-yard touchdown.
That seemed to kickstart what ended up being a monster game from Terry. The sophomore quarterback finished 6-for-7 for 131 passing yards and that passing TD while adding 142 rushing yards and three rushing TDs on just 12 carries.
While the slick ball was once again bobbled on the extra point attempt, Cohan Hand revived the play and ran in the two-point conversion to give the Rebels an 8-3 lead.
With the lead now in hand, Andrews intercepted a Hooper pass at midfield to give Chambers a golden opportunity, but the weather woes continued for the Rebels as another bad snap plagued the offense.
This time, Hooper recovered the ball and decided to attempt a fourth-and-inches conversion.
However, Colton Fuller stepped up big for the Rebels by making the stop and forcing a turnover on downs. It was a timely play by Fuller, who ended the game with six total tackles and two tackles for loss.
The difficulty with handling snaps became a theme Allen addressed after the game.
“We didn’t play our best and still won the game,” Allen said. “The most glaring problem was the center-to-quarterback exchange, which we had not been having problems with. We have to get that figured out going forward.”
On the next Rebel drive, Terry picked up 10 yards, and Tigner added 25 yards of his own. Aiden Yerta, who recorded nine carries for 85 yards, then ran the ball inside the Colts’ 1 yard line, and Terry punched it in on the quarterback keeper. Cohan McDonald’s PAT was good, and Chambers took a 15-3 lead to begin the second quarter.
That lead did not last long, though, as Hooper answered with a 54-yard TD to cut the Rebel lead to 15-10.
Terry responded by throwing a strike to Modling for a big gain on Chambers’ next drive, and Tigner and Yerta helped march the ball down the field before Terry ran in a 25-yard TD to give Chambers a 21-10 halftime lead.
Coming out of the locker room, Hooper managed to get the ball into the Rebels’ red zone, but a sack by Fuller and a pass break-up by Troy Elliott held the Colts to another field goal.
Terry found Modling twice on the Rebels’ next drive to set up another Terry TD. The extra point was good, and the Rebels moved to a commanding 28-13 lead to start the fourth quarter.
After forcing Hooper to punt, Yerta picked up 20 yards on the ground, and Terry found the end zone on a 38-yard run. McDonald booted another PAT to put Chambers up 35-13.
As time expired, the Colts added a pick-six to cut the Rebel lead, but it was too little, too late as the Rebels secured a 35-20 victory.
Chambers will host Autauga Academy on Friday, Sept. 18 at Torbert Allen Field at 7 p.m.
The Generals (3-0) rejoined the Alabama Independent School Association this year after a short stint in the Alabama High School Athletic Association, where they posted two winning seasons and made two playoff runs.
Autauga is coming off a 41-7 home win over Abbeville Christian Academy (2-2) and is one of three remaining undefeated AISA teams.
“Autauga has a good team coming in this week,” Allen said. “They’re undefeated and playing with a lot of confidence. They have a physical running game and a fast quarterback. We’ve got to have a great week of practice.”
