Southern socks it to Rebels

Aug 26, 2023

SALINEVILLE – With both the Crestview Rebels and Southern Indians being fairly young football teams, each squad desperately needed a victory in their matchup to gather some confidence and momentum moving forward on their season.

The Indians responded with a solid effort in their rushing attack as Landon Heffner and Ryan Exline tallied 218 yards rushing and 3 TDs to power them to a 38-6 victory over the Rebels. The win improved the Indians’ record to 1-1 in the early season.

“You’re supposed to improve a lot from week one to week two and I think we did,” Indian coach Rich Wright said. “We made a lot of mistakes last week and we got off to a good start (tonight).”

“We came out and played well. We came out and played as a team,” Heffner said. “The emotions were crazy, so this meant the world especially coming off a loss.”

The Rebels, who dropped to 0-2 on the season, were never able to string together any offensive drives as they only mustered 142 total yards in the contest. They also suffered from incurring 10 penalties for 90 yards on the night.

“That’s kind of where we are at right now,” Rebels coach Dominic Perry stated. “Until we can correct some mistakes and start jelling a little bit, that’s where we are at.”

The Indians set the tone on their first possession of the contest marching 55 yards on 8 plays with Exline scoring his first of two touchdowns on the night from just 1-yard out. Exline added a two-point conversion, and the Indians grabbed the early momentum at 8-0 at the 8:49 mark of the opening frame.

“I like running the ball, and we are a running team,” Exline said. “Everything was working, and we just kept on it and kept going.”

Following a shanked punt by the Rebels, the Indians scored again with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter when Heffner ran in from 3 yards. Exline, who was also 1 of 3 passing on the night found an open Markell Smith in the end zone for another two-point conversion and a 16-0 lead.

“My vision. I feel like that is one of the best parts of my game,” Heffner stated. “I felt like I ran the ball pretty well tonight.”

While the Indians’ offense was having success rushing the ball in the contest, their defense also came up with some big plays including a 92-yard interception return for a touchdown by Richie Sloan to stake the Indians to a commanding 24-0 lead with 9:25 before the halftime break.

The Rebels showed some life midway through the second quarter when Max Hawkins recovered an Indian fumble at the Indian 32. On the next play from scrimmage, Zander Witherow raced around the right end for a 32-yard touchdown scamper, making it 24-6 with 4:11 remaining in the half.

“We set the tone, and they are a young team,” Wright commented on the Rebels. “We lost a lot from last year and we are going through some growing pains last week. But we got off to a good start and our running backs ran the ball really hard.”

The Indians answered right back as they used just 6 plays to cover 57 yards with Exline diving into the endzone from just 1-yard out. His second touchdown on the night gave the Indians a commanding 32-6 halftime advantage.

Neither team was able to gain much traction in the second half as The Indians were turned away on down from the Rebels 6-yard line early in the fourth quarter. But they would find the endzone once more with only 3:27 remaining in the contest when Frank Shagnot scored from just 1 yard out to reach the final 38-6 score.

“I thought we played harder in the second half and started doing some things right defensively,” Perry remarked about his team. “We will build on that. I’m not making excuses. We have to get back on to the field and get better. Back to the basics.”

The Rebels will once again face an EOAC school next week when they travel to play the United Eagles next Friday. The Indians will host the East Canton Hornets next Friday as they try to keep their momentum rolling.

CRESTVIEW 0-6-0-0–6

SOUTHERN 16-16-0-6–38

SCORING

SO – Ryan Exline 1 run (Exline Run)

SO – Landon Heffner 3 run (Exline pass to Markell Smith)

SO – Richie Sloan 92 interception return (Heffner Run)

CR – Zander Witherow 32 run (Run Failed)

SO – Exline 1 run (Sloan Run)

SO – Frank Shagnot 1 run (Knee)

——

TEAM STATS

IC S

First downs 6 15

Total Yards 156 310

Rushes-yards 27-97 38-233

Passing 59 77

Comp-Att-Int 9-21-1 6-10-0

Punts 5-31 1-35

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 3-2

Penalties-Yards 10-92 4-32

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING– CRESTVIEW, Max Hawkins 16-58, Zander Witherow 3-35; SOUTHERN, Landon Heffner 11-107, Ryan Exline 19-93

PASSING–CRESTVIEW, Jake Noling 9-21-59-0-1; SOUTHERN, Ryan Exline 1-3-10-0-0, Timmy Potts 5-6-67-0-0

RECEIVING– CRESTVIEW, Jameson English 3-28, Kyle Booth 2-13, Joey Carr 1-12; SOUTHERN, Markell Smith 3-40, Gabe Blissenbach 2-17

INTERCEPTIONS – SOUTHER, Richie Sloan

FUMBLES – CRESTVIEW, Hawkins, Booth

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