Tumultuous season will end Friday for Rebul Academy
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 23, 2002
[10/23/02]A sometimes frustrating, often confusing, always interesting season will come to a close for Rebul Academy (4-2) Friday against Grawood, La., two months after the season appeared to have been lost due to a lack of player participation.
With a last grasp at salvaging the season, five seniors brought together 11 players to fill the roster and keep the Raider football program afloat.
“The most rewarding aspect of the season is that we’ve overcome so much. Everyone had us dead in the water,” Raiders coach Ben Ashley said. “Rebul has been down so long, and the kids pulled together to win a couple games.
“Not just play, but win.”
Rebul won with just “five running plays and five passing plays” and 11 kids playing iron-man football at varying positions depending on the circumstances.
One of the players who may best symbolizes the kind of season the Raiders have had is all purpose player senior Joel Rials.
“Joel Rials is what high school football is all about,” Ashley said. “If we had a bunch of them on the field we’d be in good shape.”
Rials is a leader in nearly every statistical category for the Raiders while playing wide receiver. He has nine catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns, has rushed for 89 yards on 26 carries with a score, and has completed two passes with a touchdown.
“It’s been hard this year, but I wish we could have played a few more games and gotten a full schedule in,” Rials said. “But it feels good going out with at least an even record.”
The first winning record since 1990 has already been secured, but Ashley knows that to sustain their winning ways, Rebul will need more kids to play.
“I really firmly believe that we can have a good program here. We have good facilities and good leaders. We just need to market better to draw people in,” Ashley said. “The best way to get players is to win.”
Ashley hopes that winning is the answer to the Raiders’ shortage in playing numbers, especially when he loses five seniors from this year’s team leaving the team with three up-and-coming seniors, six juniors and one sophomore.
“If nothing else we have nine ninth graders. My original hope was not to have to push the kids up, but they may be ready physically to help, and they may have to,” Ashley said.