Rebels spoil Chisum’s Homecoming with 30-15 win

Every team wants to win a Homecoming game. The Rivercrest Rebels wanted to pick up a big win for Homecoming this past Friday – at Chisum’s Homecoming.

The Rebels played spoiler, jumping out to a twoscore lead in the opening three minutes of the game and picking up a 30-15 win over the Mustangs for their second consecutive win after falling in their opening two games.

The Rebels are starting to live up to their 2022 motto: “Work hard; be consistent.” That consistency allowed them to pick up two straight wins as they prepare for the start of district this Friday.

The Rebels scored on the game’s fourth play when Chase Duffer found Connor Young in the middle of the field. Young made a few swift moves and motored away from the Mustang defense for a 59-yard score and a 7-0 lead.

Chisum’s ensuing drive started with promise thanks to runs by quarterback Matthew Griffin, but tackles for loss by Ethan Taylor and JaQuan Brown set up a big fourth down play for Noah Altal.

Altal forced a fumble and picked it up, falling tantalizingly short of a scoop and score when he was brought down at the one-yard line. Zane Dees finished the job on the next play with a one-yard plunge to extend the lead to 14-0. Dees then snagged an interception to end the next Mustang drive. Rivercrest moved the ball to the Chisum five before the drive stalled, leading to a Young field goal and a 17-0 lead the Rebels took into halftime.

Chisum’s defense got off to a stronger start in the second half and the offense soon followed when, after a big run from Espn Blyton, Kyle Kelley finished the drive with a 33-yard touchdown run to close the gap to 17-7. The Rebels answered when, after Chisum got a sack, Duffer bounced back with a bomb to Connor Herring for a touchdown. Rivercrest took a 23-7 lead.

Chisum tried to spark a late-game comeback when the Mustangs scored a touchdown and added the twopoint conversion to pull within 23-15, but the Rebels closed the game and sent the Homecoming crowd home disappointed after Young threw his third touchdown pass of the night to Mark Grider.

For the second consecutive week, the Rebel defense iced the game with an interception as Cason Fields closed the game with a pick.

Rivercrest will return home for their own Homecoming game Friday as they host Como-Pickton.

The Eagles are 1-3 this season, most recently losing their own Homecoming game last week to Tom Bean, 30-18. C-P defeated Detroit in week two but lost their other two games to Queen City and James Bowie.

Against the Tomcats, the Eagles allowed 185 yards passing with two scores and 157 yards rushing with two touchdowns. The two teams went into the second quarter tied at 6-6, but Tom Bean outscored C-P, 16-6 in the second quarter. Como-Pickton tried to come back, going into the final frame down, 22-18, but Tom Bean scored the game’s final points in the fourth quarter. The Eagles forced four fumbles, but only recovered one. Como-Pickton gave up three sacks and turned the ball over three times (two interceptions and one fumble).

Homecoming festivities will take place prior to kickoff at The Swamp. The game will kick off at 7:30.