Rebel gridders defeat Greybull at home

By: 
Sam Smith

The Riverside Rebels football squad punched their ticket to the upcoming playoffs in a homecoming overtime nail-biter against the Greybull Buffs Friday night in Basin. 

Coming off a tough loss against a strong Wind River squad last week, the Rebels needed to bounce back and stay in fight for a playoff spot. 

Both teams came in 2-2 before the contest with a winner of this game taking sole possession of the fourth seed for the upcoming playoffs. The loser would be on the outside looking in. 

The Rebels defeated Greybull 14-12 in overtime to take possession of the fourth-seed. Garret Ellis-Rudd found Trenton Coronel in the endzone for a touchdown. In the overtime, coach Jason Mitchell said Josh Wildman caught two passes that were the game-tying touchdown and the game-winning two-point conversion. 

The win puts the Rebels at 3-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play. 

“It was an exciting win, but one that probably didn’t need to be as exciting as it was,” Mitchell said. “Defensively, we played extremely well the entire game. Offensively, we moved the ball well for most of the game but continued to shoot ourselves in the foot in the red zone. Regardless, I’m extremely excited for this group to get their first win over Greybull in a long time. Sometimes when the breaks aren’t going your way, doubt and frustration can set in, but our guys just kept pushing forward and playing hard each and every play.”

Coronel threw for 181 yards and a touchdown. Dylan Alexander caught five passes for 51 yards and Ellis-Rudd had two catches for 96 yards. Ty Strohschein led the Rebels in rushing with 28 carries for 157 yards.

“Defensively, our linebacking corps of Porter Duncan, Dylan Alexander and Strohschein led us once again,” Mitchell said. “Each of them was involved in double-digit tackles, with each of them being involved in multiple tackles for loss. Against a team that often forces you to tackle in groups, Duncan managed to have over half the team’s solo tackles that had to be made in space. Also playing exceptionally well vs. a much bigger opponent were the two undersized, hard-nosed defensive linemen Oscar Martinez and Nathaniel Boreen, with a combined nine tackles, including a tackle for loss. Ellis-Rudd also had a big interception to get the ball back for us in excellent field position." 

With the big homecoming win over their rivals, the Rebels travel to Crook County for a non-conference matchup with the Moorcroft Wolves Friday at 6 p.m. 

The Wolves are look- ing for their first win of the season after suffering losses to Greybull in week one, Saratoga in week two, Lusk in week three, Wright in week four, Southeast in week five and Lingle-Ft. Laramie in week six. 

Monday, the JV squad traveled to Shoshoni to face the Wranglers. “We were down to 11 JV players versus Shoshoni,” Mitchell said. “We went down there in the rain/sleet and played well, but couldn’t match their speed and ended up losing by several scores.”

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