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Sports

Rebel grid end regular season with loss to Minneota 40-28


	By: Joel Herrig, staff writer	October 26, 2005

MURRAY COUNTY NEWS / Alice Spartz Tony Falk, 4, and Joe Einck, 66, block up front while Jeremy Storm, 6, squeaks through the line with the ball in tow.	The Rebels entered the game knowing they would be hosting an opening round game against Adrian, MLBO, or the same Minneota Vikings.

The MCC Rebel football team traveled to Minneota for the final game of the season last Wednesday night. With the MEA break and the beginning of the playoffs beginning on a Tuesday night the game was held earlier than normal. The Rebels entered the game knowing they would be hosting an opening round game against Adrian, MLBO, or the same Minneota Vikings. The Vikings on the other hand needed a victory or they would have had to play either RTR or Fulda, both teams had beaten Minneota earlier in the seasons. A win by Minneota would guarantee a trip to Slayton on Tuesday night. This game would be a tale of two halves one in which the Rebels would lead and the second in which Minneota would dominate.

The Vikings opened the scoring with a Ricky Peterson touchdown run of one yard. The extra point was good giving the Vikings a 7-0 lead with over 9:30 remaining in the first quarter. The Rebels wouldn't waste anytime as Tony Falk scored on his second carry of the game from 33 yards out and with the Liljenberg extra point the game was tied at 7. The next possession resulted in a fumble by Peterson which was recovered by Brady Johanson in Viking territory. The drive was a short one as the Rebels would get a Eli Ackerman eight yard touchdown run to give the Rebels the lead 14-7.

This game early on was like watching a tennis match as both defenses struggled and the ball went quickly one direction for a score then back the other way for points. This time it was the Minneota Vikings scoring but not a touchdown. The Rebel defense forced a Trent Hennen 22-yard field goal rounding out the first quarter scoring with a 14-10 Rebel lead.

The Rebels would score to begin the second quarter when Tony Falk took a handoff around the right side of the formation and push, pull, spin, and finally sprint into the end zone for a 67 yard touchdown. The extra point gave the Rebels a 21-10 lead and some momentum. The Rebels then recovered an onside kick on the following kickoff to give the Rebels great field position. The Rebels balanced running attack pushed the ball down inside the five yard line. That is when the momentum turned towards Minneota. MCC was faced with a fourth down and three yards to go from about the five yard line. The Rebels sitting on the right hash mark decided to kick the field goal rather than go for the first down and or the touchdown. Liljenbergs's field goal was wide right and the Vikings would get the football.

The Vikings drove the length of the field to score with Trent Hennen scoring on a six yard run. The two point conversion was good by Seth Hennen on a 3 yard reception making the score 21-18 in favor of the Rebels. For the Rebels it was the beginning of the end.

The Vikings took the momentum from stopping the Rebels and then scoring on them to take control of the game. The Viking defense would toughen up and slow the Rebels running game. As the game went into the second half the Vikings took their first lead 25 to 21 when Matt Buysse would hit Trent Hennen on a 20 yard touchdown pass. They then scored to begin the fourth quarter on a Peterson two yard run making the score 32 to 21. The Rebels answered with a Spartz 20 yard pass to Eli Ackerman. The two point conversion was no good and the Rebels trailed and would not score again taking the loss 40 to 27.

The Rebels record fell to 5-3 on the season, but as I mentioned earlier in this article, the Rebels had already secured a home game and the fourth seed in the playoffs. The Rebels were led in this game by Tony Falk who ran 21 times for 175 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Jeremy Storm adedd 51 yards on the ground, while Eli Ackerman had a TD on 30 yards rushing.

In the passing game the Rebels were not effective on deep passes as in previous weeks. Spartz completed four passes one going for a TD. Patrick Peterson had two catches for 18 yards while Eli Ackerman had one catch for 20 yards and a touchdown and Paul Counter added a 25 yard reception.

For Minneota Rickey Peterson ran for 191 yards and two touchdowns. Trent Hennen had a touchdown run and 90 yards receiving with another TD in the passing game.

All in all it was a very good game for Minneota with confidence that they can beat MCC. The kickoff is Tuesday night at 7:00 PM in Slayton. The winning team will advance to the second round of the playoffs to play either Red Rock Central the eight seed or the number one seeded Springfield.