by Katie McElvy
On September 2, the Chambers Academy Rebels visited the Fort Dale Eagles. As Luke Tarver took the ball to the house on a 63-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, a veteran Eagle fan turned to his wife and said, “They’re going to do that all night.” In just the second game of the season, a fan of the opposition so accurately predicted how the next seven games would go for Chambers, and Friday night was no different as four different Rebels picked up rushing touchdowns when Chambers played host to the Crenshaw Cougars.
Quarterback Landon Hand set the tempo of the offense for the night picking up 20 yards on the first play. Eli Whorton scored the 40-yard touchdown, and Tarver punched in the 2-point conversion.
Defensive efforts by Whorton, Gabe Bridges, Drew Sheppard, and Spencer Newman, pinned the Cougars back a yard farther than they started and forced a punt.
Tarver started the next series with a 9-yard pick up after initial contact was made at the line of scrimmage. Then, Hand connected with TJ Daniel for 18 yards and Cameron Gooden for 7 yards to set up the Daniel touchdown. Hand ran in the 2-point conversion to put Chambers up 16-0 midway through the first quarter.
Aiden Anglin intercepted the ball on the Cougars’ first play of their next series. Back on offense, the Rebels were pinned deep after a holding penalty, but Hand found a hole and went on a 72-yard sprint. Tarver took the ball in for the score on a 20-yard run, and the Kaisen Nix PAT was good.
Daniel led the defense on the next series with a tackle for a 5-yard loss. After forcing the punt, Daniel led the offense too, picking up a first down in addition to a 28-yard run and an 18-yard run. Hand pitched it to Whorton for a 25-yard touchdown, and the Nix PAT was once again good to extend the Rebel lead 30-0 to start the second quarter.
After a Cougar three-and-out, Tarver took the ball to the house on a 62-yard run on the first play of the Rebels’ next offensive series. Nix put up his third PAT in a row to allow the Rebels to take a 37-0 lead to the locker room at the half.
Crenshaw opened up the second half of the game with a 63-yard touchdown pass. After some offensive miscues, the Rebels found themselves in a 2nd and 32 situation, but a 15-yard pick up by Tarver and a 16-yard gain by Jacob Norgard put the Rebels back in position to score. Hand capitalized with a 39-yard touchdown run. The Nix PAT was once again good.
As the clock was winding down on the game, the Rebels did give up one more score to make the final 44-14.
Chambers amassed 437 yards on the ground with five different Rebels averaging over 10 yards per carry. Tarver had 142 yards on 8 carries, followed by Hand with 133 yards on just 4 carries, Norgard with 84 yards on 3 carries, Whorton with 42 yards on 2 carries, and Daniel with 36 yards on 3 carries.
Tarver also led the defense with 7 tackles, followed by Colton Fuller with 6, Spencer Newman with 5, and Drew Sheppard and Tucker Thrower with 4 each. Fuller, Daniel, and Anglin all recorded interceptions.
“It has been a tremendous ride for this senior bunch, and they know they are cementing their legacy with how they finish their careers. It’s been a joy to coach them and watch them grow as young men. We will go to Abbeville this Friday and hopefully, cap off a great season and get ready for the playoffs,” commented Coach Jason Allen.
The Rebels will travel to Abbeville for the final game of the regular season before hosting Clarke-Prep in the first round of the playoffs.
