By Jeff Barrois
Contributing Writer

LAPLACE – There was high drama in Reserve Friday night as the Riverside Rebels lost a heartbreaker to the Evangel Eagles 29-22. The Rebels battled turnovers and defensive mistakes to take the lead with 1:07 remaining in the game, but a blown coverage allowed the Evangel to take it back and hold on to win this thriller.
Evangel struck like lightning early jumping out to an early lead with a connection from freshman quarterback Connor Curry to Senior receiver Jared Cornelius for a 11 yard touchdown reception to complete a 70 yard drive.
The following Rebel drive was interrupted for 47 minutes when lightning strikes were seen.
The Eagles extended their lead after a 29 yard Tyler Gautier field goal, Eagles receiver Mac Meyer juggled and brought in an 83 yard touchdown catch from Curry gave Evangel a 14-3 lead.
The Rebels put together a drive on their next series, but were frustrated on second and goal from the 2 when sophomore quarterback Deuce Wallace fumbled a handoff and Evangel’s Trent Jackson recovered and brought the ball 98 yards to take a seemingly insurmountable 21-3 lead.
But the Rebels answered the bell, and answered with a 6 play 66 yard drive finished of with an 11 yard touchdown Deuce Wallace Touchdown pass to Sophomore superstar Herb McGee that brought the rebels to within 2 scores.
Freshman sophomore running back Brandon Sanders got rolling in the second half, and would bring the Rebels’ deficit to 5 after he scored on a 6 yard run that finished off a 9 play 78 yard drive with 7:21 left to play. Sanders would also provide the go ahead score on a two yard run off the right side of tackle with 1:07 remaining. The following two point conversion attempt failed.
Unfortunately for the Rebels, it was not meant to be. After a squib kick left the Eagles with very good field position, with 17 seconds left to play, Evangel QB Connor Curry found his receiver Isaiah Johnson the the game winning score after there was some confusion in the Riverside secondary.
“I have about three or four bullet holes in my shows here, we shot our selves in the foot,” said
Coach Bill Stubbs after the loss. “If you want to win championships… you’ve got to concentrate on the little things.”
Deuce Wallace finished his night 33 of 49 for 328 yards a touchdown and two interceptions while his favorite target Herb McGee had 7 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.
Brandon Sanders had 67 rushing yards on 8 attempts to go along with his two touchdowns.
The Rebels are looking to bounce back next week as they go on the road to face 1-0 Loranger next Friday. Loranger was victorious this evening in their matchup with St. Thomas Aquinas.