The MCC Rebels played their final home game of the regular season on Friday night. It was senior night and parents night for the Rebels, who hope with a couple more wins, to play a home game in the playoffs but with two road games to complete the regular season.
The Rebels wanted to give the crowd a good showing. They played host to the Tracy-Milroy- Balaton-Panthers in a Section 3A rivalry match-up. Unlike the last couple meetings, this game would come down to the final seconds.
The game got off to a great start for the Rebels. TMB got a great kick return by Jackson Kruse, and a few plays later the Panthers were inside the Rebel 20-yardline. Max Mathiason stepped up and intercepted a Kruse pass in the end zone giving the Rebels the ball at the 20-yardline.
The Rebels then got on an 80 yard march down the field with Brayden Gilb and Caleb Rosenbrook picking up key first downs and Carson Lewis ending the drive with a 7-yard touchdown. He then threw a pass to Dylan Gilbertson for the two point conversion and the Rebels led 8-0 with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Rebels kicked off to the Panthers and the short kick was recovered by Parker Olson of the Rebels. Less than two minutes later, Carson Lewis scored on a 22 yard run and the extra point by Beckett Stelter made the score 15-0.
Parker Olson recovered the next kick - which doesn’t happen very often. Unfortunately for the Rebels, an early holding call pushed them back and the drive ended with Aiden Sanow picking off a Finn Schneider pass.
The Panthers failed to score on the next possession but it helped flip the field. MCC got the ball back and would go for it on a 4th and almost two yards. The Rebels failed to pick up the first down and the Panthers used the great field position to score.
Nolan Verlinde scored two plays later on a 21 yard run and Kruse scored on the two point conversion to make the score 15 to 8. The Panthers got the ball back at their own 8 yard line with nearly three minutes left in the first half. The Panthers got on a 92 yard drive led by Kruse passing to Ty Yackley for 62 of the yards and another 15 yards came on a pass interference. Kruse put the Panthers ahead just before half on a 3 yard touchdown run, and a two-point conversion after. The Rebels trailed at the half 16 to 15.
The third quarter saw both teams take time off the clock and move the ball up and down the field but neither team scored. TMB scored the first points of the fourth quarter when Jackson Kruse broke a 39 yard touchdown run to put the Panthers up 22 to 15. The two point conversion would be a huge play in the game because if the Panthers scored, the Rebels would need to score two times to win, but the pass was incomplete.
The Rebels trailed by 7 with over nine minutes to play. The Rebels relied on their running game with the first two runs covering 23 yards by Rosenbrook, and then Carson Lewis put the Rebels in the end zone on his third touchdown of the game from 18 yards out. The Rebels trailed by one (22 to 21) and Lewis scored the two point conversion making the score 23 to 22 with 7:39 left in the game.
MCC’s defense gave up yards as the Panthers marched down the field. With time disappearing, MCC stopped the Panthers on a pair of throws into the end zone and the Rebels would win by 1.
MCC picked up their third straight win while the Panthers lost their third in a row. MCC was led in rushing by Carson Lewis who finished with 26 carries for 152 yards three touchdowns with a two point conversion run and pass. The Panthers out gained the Rebels 286 yards to 245 yards but the Panthers had 3 turnovers to the Rebels 1. Jackson Kruse led the Panthers with 126 yards rushing and two scores. The Rebels will play Thursday night at Bird Island Olivia Lake Lilian District at 7:00 pm. It will be the Rebels final section game of the season before ending the year at Canby.
