By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — A lot has changed at Riverside since the last time the Rebels took on the John Curtis Patriots, a District 9-2A clash that saw Curtis win 59-0 and drop the Rebels to 0-4.

Riverside (6-5) has since won six of their last seven games, the lone loss by three to Carver. The Rebels won two of those games on last minute touchdown passes; three others have come by 33 points or more. Through it all, Riverside has displayed one of the most explosive offenses in the state, with senior tailback Jonquial Sanders the lone upperclassman leading a slew of very young skill position players.

“We’re playing a lot better,” said Riverside coach Bill Stubbs. “But Curtis is playing a lot better, too.”

John Curtis (11-0) is the top ranked team in America as per the Rivals.com. ESPN has the Patriots tabbed as the nation’s third ranked team. Needless to say, they are Class 2A’s top ranked team and seed and a heavy favorite leading into Friday night’s rematch with the Rebels in the state quarterfinals.

Curtis has outscored its two playoff foes, Pope John Paul II and North Webster, by a combined margin of 114-6. That is just a continuation of what Curtis did in the regular season, shutting out five of its last six foes and winning every district game by 34 points or more. Curtis has allowed just 37 points to date and has not scored less than 48 points against any Class 2A foe.

“The thing that stands out about them is that they don’t make mistakes,” said Stubbs. “I’d love to force them into a few, but it just doesn’t happen very often.”

The last time the teams faced off with one another, the Rebels debuted the “Cheeto” formation and used it heavily; quarterback Deuce Wallace lined up at punter depth with two backs in front of him, one of which would always take a snap and pitch it back.

But one would figure to see much less of it this time around, if at all. Riverside has scored 48.5 points per game since the first Curtis game, quickly establishing its “Air Raid” spread attack as one of the most productive in the state.

While the offense has earned its headlines, Stubbs has been quick to praise the work of his defense over second half of the season. Riverside allowed 51, 49, 62 and 59 points over the first four games of the season; save for two shootouts with Carver and Newman, Riverside has held five other teams to a combined 36 points in the past seven games.

Curtis’ veer option offense generated 156 yards in the previous matchup with Riverside. But the Patriots also did a lot of damage in the passing game. Patrick Morton completed 9-of-15 passes for 120 yards and three scores. Curtis also struck on special teams when Richard Allen returned a punt 43 yards for a touchdown.

It was the last time to date that the Rebel offense sputtered. It gained just 112 yards of offense and Curtis intercepted Wallace three times.

“We’ve got to execute a lot better on offense than last time. We need to be in better position to defend the pass, and we’ve got to do a much, much better job on special teams,” said Stubbs.

Handling Curtis’ brute strength is another matter. While the Rebels from the first four weeks to the Rebels of today appear as night and day contrasts, stopping the Patriots up front will still be tantamount.

“We’re working on improving our strength. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen overnight. We’ll have to rely on being very, very smart across the board.”

Stubbs’ record against Curtis with Salmen was well-documented upon his hiring; the future Hall of Fame coach defeated Curtis three times in the postseason en route to state titles.

A win Friday night would represent a monumental upset. But Stubbs all year long has preached the importance of improvement over any final score; a rematch against perhaps the country’s top team will provide, in some ways, the ultimate litmus test for that growth.

“Over the last few weeks, you can see how their confidence has soared,” said Stubbs. “The football intangibles they’re showing now. When we can be down in a game, like last week, and they can come up and say, ‘Coach, we’ve got this. We’ll get it.’

“For a young team to have reached that point, I’m proud.”