By JIM STEELE
mckenzierebels.com

TRENTON - After Friday night's 34-24 loss to host Trenton-Peabody Friday night, McKenzie's all-state linebacker, Tyler Reeder, was none too pleased.

After last year's 34-9 setback to the Tide, Reeder was one of the leadership consortium who chided the Rebels to work harder. He wasn't as vocal this year, but the disgust on his face showed.

"They didn't beat us as much as we beat ourselves," said Reeder. "If you want to be a state-championship ballclub, you have to play better than that."

It's not like the Rebels turned the ball over seven times. They lost a fumble and an interception and only one of those led to a score. But it was missed opportunities that stymied McKenzie. Twice the Rebels were in the red zone against Trenton just before half. They only had three points to show for it. There were inopportune penalties, missed assignments, busted plays.

"Sometimes, when you know you have a chance, you have to take care of business," Reeder said. "Tonight, we didn't take care of business."

Senior running back Tyler Moore summed it pretty succinctly: "It hurts."

Moore had a play or two where he was stopped after short gains. He was replaced for a couple of plays, then came back for a big gain and began to elevate his play.

"The intensity level wasn't what it should have been," said Moore. "You have to hit the hole and run hard. I'm a senior, so I needed to step it up. I wasn't running hard in the first half."

If there is anything to karma, the Rebels will get an idea about the upside and the downside after this loss. Shabree Payne joined a yin-and-yang chorus from the Rebels.

"We'll learn from this experience," Payne said. "We know what it's like to lose and it's a bad feeling."

Moore agreed, waxing from the silver lining department.

"It didn't hurt us as far as region goes," he said.

"Our offense had them against the ropes, but we just didn't get it done," said a frustrated Payne. "We came in here underdogs against a 2A team and had chances to win the game."

Senior newcomer John Campbell, who had 10 tackles to accent a collosal night defensively, said this experience will be something from which the Rebels can learn.

"There are always positive and negatives you can take with you from the game," he said. "We knew we could play with them, but we just didn't get it done mentally."

Trenton's speed and strength may have gotten in McKenzie's head a bit. Peabody coach Kent Scott thought his team's athletic prowess may have been a key to success.

"I think our speed helped us and we were very physical in the secondary," he said. "Maybe they heard footsteps and it caused dropped balls, but I think our speed was a factor."

"Their speed may have had something to do with our mental mistakes and we had a bunch of offensive penalties," Campbell said.

"The mental mistakes killed us," said all-state quarterback Derek Carr, who was 16-32 for 218 yards and a touchdown.

"We had two scoring opportunities and one stop is all we needed," said Carr, pointing out that the Rebels, trailing by scant four points, had the ball with four minutes left in the game. "We just kept killing ourselves."

Next week, the Rebels will return home to face Region 7A foe Union City, a team it has only beaten once in 13 times and that was last season. The Tornadoes defeated Dresden 36-30 at War Memorial Stadium.

"There's nothing you can do about this one now," Carr said. "We just have to come out and get refocused and take it out on Union City and we need to learn to capitalize on opportunities and reduce mistakes."

PHYSICAL BATTLE: McKenzie's battle with Trenton was a physical one, to be sure. Just ask the players.

"It was a very physical game," said Campbell, who had a few thunderous hits during the encounter. "They came out and got after it and we did too."

"It was real physical, but we were ready for that," said Payne. "We were physical, but we weren't mentally into it and they just got it done and we didn't."

HOMECOMING: An overflow crowd ringed Freed Field as the Golden Tide celebrated homecoming Friday night. Trenton came away with the victory, which was their fourth straight over the Rebels going back to the 2004 season.

UP NEXT: McKenzie will host Union City who is 2-1, 1-0 in the region. The Tornadoes lost to Westview 49-7 in the season opener, but captured a key 7A victory against Lake County in Week 2, 34-6. Friday night, the Twisters knocked off visiting Dresden.

The Rebels will be celebrating Stadium Dedication night when UC visits. All MHS football alumni have been invited back to cut the ribbon on the new home side of the stadium, even though the Rebels have already played one game in the new digs.

Events will begin 5 p.m. with registration and a pre-game barbecue meal. At 7, the former players will be recognized as part of pre-game ceremonies. Between the third and fourth quarters, the Class of 1977 will present footballs, which will be raffled off, signed by current Tennessee Titans football players.

Saturday, Sept. 22, there will be a golf outing at Carroll Lake Golf Club in conjunction with the dedication weekend. The golf outing is open to anyone, not just MHS football players or alumni. There will be gifts and door prizes. Entry fee is $200 per team and proceeds will benefit the McKenzie High School golf team. Lunch will be served from 11:30 to 1 p.m. when the golf event begins.