The Hays Rebels opened its 2017 season with a 48-36 win against nondistrict matchup Georgetown East View at Bob Shelton Stadium Friday night.
The offensive showdown between the Rebels and Patriots featured eight touchdowns in the first half alone, with each team scoring four apiece.
Hays Head Coach Neal Lahue was pleased with his team’s effort for the first game of the season. Lahue praised the offensive line for opening up the Rebel running game for 449 yards and 6 touchdowns.
“You know I thought we moved the ball very well on offense,” said Lahue. “A lot of that has to do with our O-line.”
Junior running back Thailand Mayberry led the Rebels in rushing with 130 yards and 3 touchdowns on 16 carries. Another key contributor in the bruising rushing attack was senior running back Cade Powell, who rushed for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 carries.
“We did a great job of getting push upfront, and I thought those two guys ran well,” Lahue said referring to Mayberry and Powell.
While Hays offense thrived throughout the game, the defense struggled to keep East View out of the end zone in the first half. The Patriots scored four passing touchdowns against the Rebel secondary, three of which went for more than 65 yards. East View junior wide receiver Devhaun Little had 8 catches for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns, with all three touchdowns happening in the first two quarters.
“I thought the first half their two wide outs made some big plays against our secondary, I thought we made some good adjustments at halftime,” said Lahue.
The solution was double covering some of the wide receivers in order to mitigate their talents. Hays’ adjustment worked to perfection.
The Rebel defense responded by not allowing a single offensive point by East View in the second half. East View’s only touchdown of the second half was a 95-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown during the fourth quarter.
Other key contributors to the prolific Rebel rushing attack were junior fullback Martin Shoemaker and junior running back Dallin Roberts. Shoemaker finished the game with 49 rushing yards on 7 carries, while Roberts added 62 yards on 5 carries with a 26 yard touchdown to seal the victory for Hays late in the fourth quarter.
“I tell you what, Dallin Roberts and Martin Shoemaker, the other two backs, came in and did a great job of running the ball as well,” LaHue said.
Ball security is a point of focus for the Rebels as they ready for next week’s contest against Georgetown. The Rebels fumbled the ball three times, two of which were 5 yards away from the end-zone.
“We’ve got to hang on to the football. If we can do that, you know, it’s not even as close as it is now, in my opinion,” Lahue stated. “We had some turnovers, we got to take care of the ball.”
