Rebels Earn Re-Match With Caledonia In State Title Game

Wes Vork-NSO

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Nov 15, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

MINNEAPOLIS- Last season when the Rebels fell to Caledonia in the state championship game; the Rebels started thinking about what it would take to get back to and win that championship game. The Rebels thoughts from a season ago are all back to where they wanted; a return trip to the prep bowl next Friday afternoon and a return match-up with the Warriors of Caledonia with the State Class AA title on the line.

“We watched them (Caledonia) play against Bold today and we cheered every time they got a first down.” Senior tailback Jake Disterhaupt stated after the game. “It isn’t that we don’t like BOLD, we don’t have anything against them but we want Caledonia.”

The Rebels returned to the state title game with a 27-20 victory over Jackson County Central Thursday afternoon at the Mall of America Field in Minneapolis. The Rebels, with the victory will play in their second consecutive prep bowl against the two time defending champion Caledonia Warriors. The Warriors advanced to their third consecutive prep bowl with a 26-24 win over BOLD in the other state semi-final class AA matchup Thursday.

The Huskies would get on the scoreboard first on Thursday afternoon after a misplayed Rebels punt attempt turned into a Spencer Johnson two yard touchdown run and the Huskies led 7-0 on a 4 play 31 yard drive. The Rebels responded right back as the Rebels marched 65 yards down the field on 9 plays and it was Michael Pender topping the drive off with a 10 yard touchdown run and the score was tied at 7-7.

The Rebels took their first lead of the game in the second quarter when Pender scored his second touchdown of the game, this time it was a 2 yard touchdown run for the Rebels running back. The extra point was blocked and the Rebels led 13-7.

Jackson County Central then went on a 10 play 82 yard drive and tied the game at 13-13 when Darick Vacura scored on a 5 yard touchdown run. It was then the Rebels turn to block the extra point and the game was tied at 13-13.

Following a big kickoff return and a 15 yard personal foul penalty on the Huskies, the Rebels Jake Disterhaupt scored on a 28 yard touchdown run that put the Rebels in front 20-13 which the Rebels would hold that advantage as the first half ended.

The second half saw both teams come out a turn the third quarter turn into a defensive battle as both teams came up with huge stops. At one point the two teams combined for 4 fourth down stops and a forced punt.

With a fourth quarter which was so far scoreless, the Rebels went on an 11 play 66 yard drive which was capped off by 4 yard Michael Gassert touchdown run. On that drive it was the Rebels BJ Young who was the featured back. Young had 5 carries on the drive for ML-WR, but it was a huge 4th down and one where Pender gained two yards which set up the Gassert touchdown run and a 27-13 lead.

“It kind of threw a curve ball at them.” Rebels Head Coach Dave Louzek explained. “They were keying off Jake and without him they had no key. He (Young) doesn’t have the speed or strength of Jake, but his shiftiness give teams fits. He could easily be the top back on a lot of teams but doesn’t get a lot of chances because we have two good tailbacks in Pender and Disterhaupt.”

Young was happy for the opportunity, but was quick to credit his offensive line. “Those guys did an incredible job today. It’s pretty easy when you have a five foot hole to run through.”

“Last year Caledonia controlled the line of scrimmage. At the end of the season banquet I challenged the then sophomores and juniors to work over the winter and hit the weight room to get stronger.” Louzek explained. “We talked about working to get a re-match with Caledonia from the first day of practice and now those guys have the chance to be the difference.”

The Huskies managed to march down the field on 6 plays covering 59 yards and Vancura raced 30 yards for his second touchdown of the game to cut the Rebels lead to 27-20. The Rebels managed to run almost two minutes off the clock before the Huskies defense came up with a huge fourth down stop to get one more shot with 1:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Rebels defense again would rise to the occasion as they had most of the day. Pressure on quarterback Tanner Menke, forced him to scramble for a short gain on first down and two incomplete passes due to pressure from the Rebels defensive line set up a huge fourth down. The Rebels then stopped the game’s leading rusher Vancura, after only a gain of one yard and the Rebels ran out the clock to claim the seven point win for and move to 13-0 overall on the season.

The Rebels will meet the Warriors at 1:00 pm next Friday afternoon in a rematch from a season ago when Moose Lake-Willow River fell in the championship game by a score of 27-0. Caledonia has the state longest current unbeaten streak at 25 games. The Warriors have won the state Class AA title four of the last five seasons.

Rebels assistant James Bohaty, who has been around football for a long time said getting the basics down and having a complete game is what is needed to get a win over Caledonia. “We need a good game from the offense, the defense and special teams. We need to block on offense and tackle on defense.” Disterhaupt and Young agreed. “It will take a perfect game to beat them; we played well today but we will step it up next week. They are the state champs. Right now they are the best, but with this win, we now get the chance to show we are the best.”

Young explained that after looking at last year’s game film, a win is certainly possible. “We saw that we made little mistakes, just a bit off on a block and that kind of thing. We have worked hard to clean up those little things… and we are a really tight knit group, one big family and that will make a difference.”

After playing late in November for years and having to juggle Thanksgiving plans, just maybe that one big family can have a state championship trophy to use for a shiny new thanksgiving centerpiece.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at Dwight@northlandsportsonline.com