By Jeff Barrois

Special to L’Observateur

RESERVE – The Riverside Rebels survived a slow start and overcame a 15-point deficit Friday night to rally back and score an upset over the 8^th-seeded Episcopal Knights.

Freshman QB Deuce Wallace found receiver freshman Herb McGee on 4th and 10 for a 16-yard gain with only 33 seconds left to keep what turned out to be the winning drive alive. Two plays later, Wallace found McGee again to take the lead with 20 seconds remaining.

Despite a slow start, and an early second half interception, Wallace finished the night with 3 touchdown passes and 281 yards.

“We kinda started out flat, something we haven’t done in awhile, and we got our butts chewed at halftime and we knew what we had do to keep the season going,” said Wallace. “We came up with big plays at the right time, and that allowed us to come out with the ‘w’.”

“We came out flat, but we had a talk in the locker room and we came out ready to play,” said senior running back Jonquial Sanders.

Sanders had a tough night running the football, but was very active in the passing game catching eight passes, including a 53 yard touchdown.

“We just settled down and started playing in the second half,” said Riverside coach Bill Stubbs, “I think the coaches did a real good job of mixing things in there to really open things up.”

Riverside had some trouble early with Episcopal’s dual threat of running backs, but stiffened in the second half, allowing  the Rebels to score 21 unanswered points.

“It was a team thing, and we came out strong and hard, and we came out with a win,” said sophomore defensive tackle Richie George.

The Rebels will face Class 2A top seed John Curtis at Muss Bertilino Playground next Friday night.

“They’re a great football team,” said Stubbs, “That’s not going to deter us.”