By JIM STEELE
mckenzierebels.com

BRUCETON - Pre-season pundits had already annointed Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central as Region 7A favorites. One coach's poll had the Tigers ranked No. 1 in the state.

When Central hosted McKenzie in this high-stakes regional opener, it stood to reason that the Tigers would be favored. They had everybody back including Mr. Football finalist and 2,000-yard rusher Chad Jordan. Meanwhile the Rebels lost 15 seniors, including all of their receivers and 1,200 lbs. of linemen, not to mention 23 rushing TDs. Even pre-game radio yackers had already penciled the Tigers in as winners.

Someone forgot to explain things to McKenzie.

The Rebels scored their second shutout in as many weeks, forced invocation of the mercy rule for the second time in as many weeks, this time on the road and surged their way to a 35-0 Region 7A victory at Herndon Stadium Friday night.

Derek Carr threw for 176 yards and rushed for 86, Tyler Moore had 69 yards on 19 carries for three TDs as the Rebels controlled both lines of scrimmage.

Jordan had plenty of touches, but not much to show for it. He had 23 carries but only 65 yards. McKenzie took care of business and took a big step toward a second-straight regional title as a result.

It was sort of a sluggish start, perhaps a result of adrenaline, but the Rebels did just enough to take a 14-0 first-half lead, then take control from there.

"Bruceton came out ready to play and we were pressing a bit at the start," said MHS coach Wade Comer. "But our kids kept playing, kept plugging away and kept fighting and didn't panic."

The Rebel defense allocated the Tigers only 122 yards, most of that on the ground and never let them in the red zone.

"Our defense played lights out," said Comer. "They allowed our offense to get their feet under them."

Central coach Tim Gilmer was visibly stunned by the result.

"They were physical and we weren't," he said. "They controlled both sides of the line and if you do that you'll be successful. They just lined up in a base defense and whipped us and didn't even make many adjustments."

Carr was a handful for the Tigers, especially in the second half.

"We got good pressure on Carr all night with front five," Gilmer said, "but he did a great job scrambling and finding lanes; he has great vision."

Carr only threw 10 times, completing eight, including a 27-yard TD strike to Kyle Kirk in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. But he was an elusive target, especially in the third frame, where he picked up 77 of his yards, mostly on a 50-yard burst down the left sideline, parking MHS on the Tiger 1. That enabled Moore to score his third TD of the night from the 6.

"Derek played well and got us out of bad situations with his scrambling," said Comer. "He got turned bad plays into good plays and made good adjustments. He looked like a kid with a year under his belt tonight."

It was a physical matchup to be sure. On the very first play, Jordan tried the Rebel middle where he was introduced to North Side import John Campbell. Campbell stuffed him for a yard loss and set the tone. Though it took a while for the Rebels to hear the tone.

After forcing the Tigers to three-and-out, Jake Johnson deflected Jordan's punt and it landed 13 yards from the scrimmage line...where it was touched by a Rebel and recovered by a Tiger. But the Tigers had to punt again. The Rebels had the ball on the 42, but fumbled two plays later back to the Tigers.

When the Rebels got the ball back late in the first, it took McKenzie five plays to cover 56 yards ending with Carr's 27-yard aerial to Kirk. Harris Laughrey booted the first of five conversion kicks and the Rebels had struck first.

McKenzie's defense forced a failed fourth-down conversion on the Tigers' first possession of the second frame, but couldn't move the ball effectively. But on the next Tiger possession, Rebel senior Rusty Chapman intercepted Tiger quarterback Jacob Edwards and set up McKenzie's next score. It took the Rebs three plays to cover 19 yards, ending in Moore's 10-yard run and the Rebels' 14-0 lead at the half. Chapman ended the half with an interception and 20-yard return.

The Rebels got the second-half off to a great start. They received the kick and used nearly five minutes to get into the end zone. A 20-yard pass from Carr to Shabree Payne, who had two catches for 51 yards, camped MHS in Tiger territory. Carr hit Chapman, who had three grabs for 56 yards, on a 7-yard gainer to the 1 where Moore go the call. On the next Rebel possession, Carr scrambled 50 yards to the 1, enabling Moore to power his way into the end zone on the next play. MHS led 28-0 after three.

"Our offensive line played pretty good, but we still have a lot of cleaning up to do," said Comer. "It was the firs time we saw a blitz like that and now we have it on flim where we can see where we can get better. But when the blocking broke down, Carr got us out of bad situations."

Carr hit Chapman for a 31-yard gainer early in the fourth and the Rebels were on the Tiger 9. Campbell surged 8 yards to the 1 and Bowden did the rest. MHS had secured a 35-0 lead. That was pretty much that.

"I thought we could come here and have success if we played like we were capable," said Comer. "We play a lot better defense now and we have kids who can play defense and get the ball back to our offense. Our defense set up the offense and gave us a short field."

On the night, the Rebels racked up 361 total yards, 185 of it coming on the ground. Linebacker Tyler Reeder had 10 tackles, two for loss. Campbell had seven stops, one for loss; Jacob Fussell had six, three for loss. Chapman had six tackles to go with two interceptions. Bowden and Austin Winstead also had six stops.

The Tigers were led defensively by Matt Lane and Abe Hampson with six stops each. Alex McCauley had three returns for 63 yards.

Next up for the Rebels is a trip to Trenton-Peabody. The Golden Tide owns a three-game winning streak over McKenzie. The Tide defeated Dresden 42-6 Friday night. McKenzie last vanquished the Tide in 2003, 35-7 at Freed Field. Meanwhile, Central, 1-1, will visit Paul Ward Stadium and Huntingdon. The Mustangs, 1-1, were stunned at Newbern Friday by the Dyer County Choctaws 26-0.