ML-WR Comes Back In A Big Way Against Esko

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Oct 20

Kerry Rodd-NSO

It was almost as if the Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels dangled a carrot in front of the Esko Eskomos last night. Esko fought a valiant first half battle and led 14-13 at halftime, but then it was as if the Rebels yanked the carrot away and put things in overdrive as they roared to a 49-14 win on the road.

The win gave the Rebels a 30-game regular season unbeaten streak and it also gave the Rebels their third straight Great Polar White conference title. The victory also was the 20th in a row for the Rebels in conference play.

Max Reinsertion hooked up with receiver Richard Jubie on a 17-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and after Jake Stainbrook’s extra point kick, Esko led it 7-0.

The Rebels bounced back on the kickoff when Michael Unzen raced back 75 yards for a score and Mike Bennett tacked on the extra point for a 7-7 tie.

ML-WR took a 13-7 lead when Unzen dashed in from the 19-yard line, but Jacob Anderson gave Esko the tie on a 3-yard touchdown run. Esko gained a 14-13 halftime lead when Stainbrook hit the extra point, but that would be all Esko would score the rest of the way.

Whatever Rebel coach Dave Louzek said to his charges at halftime should be bottled up and delivered to every coach whose team trails at the intermission break because when the Rebels came out in the third quarter they stormed the field like a swarm of locusts on a feeding frenzy. Shane Rehbein scored on a 30-yard dash and then Austin Jacobson slashed in from 65 yards away and again from 54 yards out as the Rebels pushed the lead 37-14 at the end of three quarters. ML-WR managed to also tack on two-point conversions from Rajean Carlson once and Jacobson twice in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, it was more of the same for the Rebels with quarterback Hayden Hoffman finding Rajean Carlson open for a 50-yard touchdown pass and run. Then Carlson, for good measure, romped in on an 88-yard touchdown run. Mike Bennett added the extra point kicks on both of the fourth quarter scores.

Jacobson had an incredible game with 14 carries that were good for 227 yards on the ground, Carlson added one carry for 88 yards, Unzen ran 12 times for 79 yards and Rehbein had two carries for 30 yards.

Defensively, the Rebels were led by Spencer Clough’s 14 tackles and Jacobson’s 13 tackles. Cody Schmidt added eight tackles and both Matt Crider and Austin Lanoue had seven tackles in the game.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com