By JIM STEELE
mckenzierebels.com

BRUCETON - The old football axiom maintains that it all starts up front. Nobody knows that better Saturday than Central coach Tim Gilmer.

Gilmer lamented that his Tigers were handled up front by McKenzie in the Region 7A opener at Herndon Stadium Friday night. McKenzie senior lineman Austin Winstead offered similar sentiments.

"I believe that was the difference," he said with a confident grin.

McKenzie controlled the tempo and got better as the game went along. MHS coach Wade Comer said the defensive line played "lights out" and the offensive line did pretty well, but could stand some improvement.

"The defensive line did what it was supposed to do," said senior newcomer John Campbell. "Offensively, the line did excellent just blocking."

Senior Clint Kee said he was impressed with the line.

"They were awesome," he said. "Without them, we wouldn't be able to do half the stuff we do."

"We had two guys playing both sides of the ball," said senior Josh Rhoads. "It was tough, but we stayed focused. We went over plays at halftime and just tried to get more focused in the second half."

And it paid off. The Rebels had only 122 yards in the first half and 254 in the second half. The Tigers had just 11 snaps and 18 yards in the second half compared to 29 snaps and 101 yards in the first half.

"The line played good," said senior all-state quarterback Derek Carr, who scrambled for most of his ground yardage in the third quarter. "They did what they had to do."

Carr was a bit more specific.

"It's hard to block a 5-3 and the way they were blitzing," he said. "We ran the ball when we wanted to run, we passed when wanted to pass and there were no sack. That should tell you how good we did."

RUNNING WILD: McKenzie quarterback Derek Carr rushed eight times for 86 yards, but 77 of those yards came in the third quarter. Carr showed he is a much more mobile quarterback and made good decisions about when to run the ball. But he never dreamed he'd carry for 86 yards.

"I'm through," he said with an exhausted laugh. "I'd rather stay back in the pocket, but you gotta do what you gotta do and take what they gave us."

Winstead summed up Carr's effort thusly: "It was amazing."

"Derek played a good game," said Reeder. "A lot of times when the blocking failed, he was a smart quarterback and made smart plays."

MERCY ME: For the second straight week, the Rebels shutout an opponent and forced use of the TSSAA mercy rule. When Harris Laughrey booted the fifth PAT of the night to start the fourth quarter, the Rebels went up 35-0 at Herndon Stadium and forced continuous running of the clock.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON?: McKenzie senior Kyle Kirk caught his second TD pass of the season Friday night at Bruceton. So has he eclipsed the record of his father, Clay Kirk, who was a McKenzie receiver from 1973-75?

"I have no idea what my pop's record was," mused Kirk with a laugh. "I was just excited to be able to get my teammates up. Everything I do is aimed at helping the team."

GREEN PASTURE: McKenzie senior fullback and linebacker John Campbell had an 18-yard burst in the final frame that almost went all the way.

"It was great," he said with the exuberance of a kid at Christmas. "I just saw open field and everyone blocking for me."

RARE JORDAN: Central running back Chad Jordan had 275 yards and five touchdowns in a 40-19 victory over Chester County last week. This week he had 23 carries, 65 yards and no scores. Campbell, who introduced himself to Jordan on the first play of the game with a 1-yard loss, rated the defense's effort against him.

"It was incredible," he said. "Jordan is a great back, btu the defense did an excellent job and Rusty had two interceptions."

Chapman had two picks to go with his three receptions for 56 yards.

EARLY REGION CHALLENGE: McKenzie was concerned about playing Central, a regional contender, so early in the season.

"In the second week, nobody is playing their best, so this becomes the most important game of the year," Reeder said. "The team who plays the best is going to win, so you have to play your best game."

"It's tough to play a big region game like this right off the bat but we worked hard and got after it," Campbell said.

Carr said McKenzie found out a lot about itself with such good results so early.

"It's hard to face a team that is supposed to be one of the best teams in the region right off the bat," he said. "But we won 35-0."

Winstead had an interesting perspective: "It's hell when you have to play all four quarters and not come out, but it's worth it."

RISING TIDE: McKenzie will have its toughest challenge of the season next Friday when it visits Trenton-Peabody, regarded as one of the top 2A teams in West Tennessee. The Tide owns a three-game winning streak over the Rebels, going back to 2004. In 2003, the Rebels jumped to a 35-0 lead at halftime, but hit the snooze button and left with a 35-7 victory. A year later, the Tide stunned McKenzie at Rebel Field in a controversial finish, 32-27. Destrick Fields had 272 yards in that game, but the Rebels were victimized by a questionable ball spot on a crucial fourth-down play with :19 to play. The Rebels were just 5 yards from the goal line when they had to give up the ball. In 2005, the Tide won a rain-soaked 16-8 battle that was twice interrupted by severe thunderstoms. Last year, Trenton shocked MHS with a 34-9 setback.

"Trenton is a tough place to go and we have to get ready," said MHS coach Wade Comer. "They have a heck of a team and one of the best teams in West Tennessee."

Reeder says the Rebels are in for a tough challenge.

"Next week will be our hardest game of the year," he said. "Trenton was the only team we lost to in the regular season last year so we have to have better practices and be 10 times better than we were this week."

Rhoads agreed.

"They have beaten us three times in a row," he said. "We don't want it to be four."

Kickoff next week is 7:30. The Tide defeated Dresden 42-6 on Friday night.