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It was a cold night this past Wednesday as the MCC Rebels regular season came to an end in Adrian. The Rebels were taking on their long-time rivals. Sometimes the last game of the season has little on the line because both teams are set in their playoffs positioning but in this case the two teams were playing for home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs Tuesday night. The winner of this game would play host to the loser in less than a week’s time.
The Rebels have been a fast starting team all season and this game wasn’t different. Murray County Central got the ball first and they would put together a terrific drive with a big pass from Abe Paulzine to Jaden Deacon for a first down. MCC got inside the ten yard line before the drive would fizzle. The Rebels had a poor snap in shotgun which put the Rebels with a third and long situation and then a holding call moved the Rebels back again to the 29 yard line. It was 4th down and 29 when Paulzine would throw a perfect pass to Christian Tentinger for the touchdown. The Rebels led 6-0 but the two point conversion was no good. The Dragons wouldn’t take much time to respond to the Rebels score. Rilee Heidebrink would break a 47 yard run to get into Rebel territory and he would finish the drive with a 6 yard touchdown run. The Dragons extra point was no good and the game was tied 6-6 with 7:35 to play in the first quarter. It would remain that way for three quarters.
The Rebels and the Dragons played pretty even football in the first quarter but from the second quarter on the Dragons were in control. The Dragons had the ball twice as much as the Rebels in this game but after the first quarter it was even more lopsided. The Dragons in the second half had the ball in Rebel territory most of the half outside the opening drive. The Rebels ran less than 15 plays in the second half plus they turned the ball over. What the Dragons couldn’t do was score and with a field goal attempt as time expired went wide right the game was headed to overtime still tied at 6-6.
In overtime each team gets the ball at the ten yard line in a first and goal situation and after each team has the ball the team with the most points wins. The Rebels had the ball to start overtime and after the first three plays the Rebels tried to kick their first field goal of the season. It was no good. The Dragons would get the ball back and their drive would falter and when they tried the game winning kick it would be blocked. Which meant double overtime. The Dragons would get the ball first but they would fumble and the Rebels would get the ball back with a chance to score to win the game. The Rebels wouldn’t waste any time, Paulzine would pass to Christian Tentinger for the game winning touchdown. The Rebels pulled off an amazing win 12-6 even after being dominated by the Dragons offense.
The Rebels had most of their yards through the air passing for 99 yards while running for just 73 yards. The Dragons threw for 60 yards on one completion but they ran for 196 yards. Rilee Heidebrink ran 38 times for 138 yards and a touchdown. The Rebels struggled in the run game with Ross Engelkes carrying the ball 12 times for 28 yards. Abe Paulzine ran 10 times for 25 yards. Jaden Deacon had 2 catches for 60 yards while Christian Tentinger had 2 catches for 39 yards and two touchdowns. The Rebels will play Tuesday night at 7:00 pm in Slayton against the Dragons.
