Rebels Roll Past Rush City

Sept 11

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

RUSH CITY- A rematch of last season’s sectional championship game saw the Tigers of Rush City hosting the defending Section 7 champion Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels, and it was not as close of a contest as last fall’s section championship game with the Rebels defeating the Tigers by a score of 49-6. It was four straight turnovers in the first half which led to 28 straight points and a lead which was never in jeopardy.

Rush City opened the game with a drive that started with two first downs, but that was short lived as after this early drive it was a fumble recovered by Chris Gassert that led to a 17 yard touchdown run from Holden Olson. The extra point by Michael Bennett was good and the Rebels led 7-0.

Josh Cisar then intercepted a Garrett Chruchsmith pass that led to another touchdown run for Olson, this time he scored from 3 yards out. The next drive of the Tigers resulted in a turnover again as Trevor Nummela intercepted another Churchsmith pass which led to a 52 yard touchdown pass from Nick Tokar to Olson, and with a Bennett extra point, it was 21-0.

The Rebels added two more touchdowns in the second quarter, a Chris Gassert 9 yard touchdown run and a 1 yard touchdown pass from Tokar to Tyler Huso along with Bennett converting two more extra points and the Rebels led 35-0 at halftime.

Cody Schmidt scored on a 17 yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Michael Gassert added one more touchdown with a 28 yard run in the fourth quarter. The Tigers lone scored came after a Rebels fumble and a huge 70 yard pass play when Jake Tantranella scored on a 3 yard touchdown run, scoring the only Tiger points on the night.

The Rebels defense was again stellar as they only allowed six points and 194 total yards of offense. The Rebels added three sacks with Austin Lanoue, Cody Schmidt, and Jake Christopherson recording the sacks. Abe Young led the Rebels defense with eight tackles, and Spencer Clough added 6 tackles.

The Rebels improve to 2-0 on the season and they are in action again on Thursday when they play Duluth Marshall at Marshall High School. The Tigers fall to 0-2 and they take on the Pine City Dragons next week in Pine City.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com