The team聮s war cry is 聯Rebel Up聰 and the organization continues to move in that very direction.
The Westshore Rebels won their fifth straight sa国际传媒 Football Conference game Sunday -- the first time they聮ve managed to achieve that since 2004 -- using an unrelenting offence early in a 48-41 victory over the Kamloops Broncos at Bear Mountain Stadium.
It ended up much closer than it should have been due to special teams nightmares. The Rebels were up 48-14 before a series of botched snaps led to blocked field-goal attempts. Kamloops also converted on several onside kicks and a lengthy kick return that added to the second-half shenanigans.
聯We went from the best special-teams game of the year up in Kelowna last week to the worst, which we aren聮t happy about, but there was a lot of stuff we weren聮t happy about in the second half. We聮ll just go to work and fix it,聰 said Rebels head coach John Cardilicchia.
He made several changes to his lineup in the second half, which also added to the change in momentum, but in the end it was a win.
聯It feels great,聰 he said of achieving a fifth straight triumph. 聯I聮ll take an ugly win over an ugly loss any day. We got our two points, that聮s what we came for. Did we want to do it like this? No. Are we happy we did it like this? No. Are we happy that we聮re 5-1 and moving forward? Yes.聰
How could they not be?
Quarterback Mark Black threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in building up a 34-7 lead at halftime as the Rebs improve to 5-1 on the season, just behind both the Vancouver Island Raiders and Langley Rams at 5-0-1.
Black connected on a pair of TD catches with Cat Todorovich -- the first from 17 yards out just 3:54 in and second from seven yards on the final play of the first half before the receiver was ejected for overly exuberant celebrations.
Black also came out of the game at the break after completing nine of 18 passes for 148 yards and the three scores. The starting quarterback added three carries for 38 yards, including a nifty nine-yard TD scramble before he gave way to backup Jesse Herman.
聯It was a great performance from the offence, initially,聰 said Black. 聯Every guy was working together. Receivers were getting open and I was able to get them the ball.聰
Then it got wacky in the second half, including a crushing blind-side hit from Broncos defensive lineman Braden McCarthy that forced Herman to fumble in his own end zone, which Kamloops聮 Grady Chalmers jumped on for a score.
Chalmers also had an amazing three field-goal blocks as the Rebs struggled with usual snapper, Carlos Cerrato-Hiebert, unable to perform those special-teams duties. Taylor Gudgeon handled those responsibilities on field goals and Mike Barry snapped on punts.
It became a nightmare for kicker Quinn Van Gylswyk.
聯Three or four blocked field goals is unacceptable. We have to go back and put some work in on that,聰 said Black, who watched helplessly from the sidelines after coming out of the game at halftime.
The Rebels also, obviously, let up mentally at the break.
聯I think we did,聰 said Black. 聯We went into the locker room and didn聮t come out prepared to face a team that was still hungry and they nearly made us pay.聰
Herman found Vinnie Cannata for a 53-yard TD strike (his second of the game) to make it 48-14 late in the third quarter but that聮s when the game started to slide.
Derek Apps had a 104-yard kickoff return for Kamloops that led to a Jacob Palmarin touchdown. The Broncos pulled off an onside kick and followed that with a 44-yard bomb from Mark Discombe to Carter Bilawchuck that cut it to 48-27.
Discombe added other TD strikes to Bilawchuck and Jesse Neufeld and ran in from one yard out as the Broncos聮 offence came to life.
聯Losing Cat didn聮t help us at all,聰 said Cardilicchia, who watched his offence roll in the first half. 聯Mark was also very good.
聯We did look good in the first half. But momentum is a beast, and when they got a couple of big special-teams plays, momentum switched and they started to believe. The first half we looked sharp and the second we looked anything but,聰 said Cardilicchia, essentially summing it up.
The Rebels now travel to Chilliwack next weekend to face the 0-6 Huskers.
Twitter/tc_vicsports
