Rebel Yeller

I for one thought that this was the Rebels year. Don't get me wrong it was an awesome season. No one can take the district crown from this great group of players and coaches. I just did not want it to end!

To the seniors you are a class act that this school won't soon forget.

To the juniors we will be counting on you to step up and assume positions of leadership in 2009

To the sophomores we will expect you to keep working on being better at your positions in 2009 and help keep the string alive of playoff    appearances and hopefully moving forward in the second season in years to come.

To the freshmen we will be looking at you to fill some holes that are being left from graduation, you have to step up.

To the coaches thanks for being the class acts that our young men can look to as a model of sportmen and competitors.

To the Rebel fans thanks for being out in force in Jacksonville to support the team.

It is all over in a flash and once it is done it is done. Thanks Rebels for the hard work from August till last night. Thanks for enduring the nicks, cuts, scrapes, and various other pains that come from the game of football. You will look back at some point in the future and fondly remember this season. The good things will always make you smile and the bad things will always make you think "what if", but be proud of the job you did and know this...

Rebels always live to fight another day, be sure to take that spirit into the life you have before you and you will be alright.

I will continue to pray for you and that God will direct your paths whereever they may take you!

Thanks again for a great ride. We all love you.

Well Rebel fans, its almost time!

Most of us won't have the chance to post until after we get back from the game tomorrow night. It is time for final thoughts.

There is no doubt that the toughest game of the season is this one. But I think there is a lesson that another tough game taught us all earlier in the season. When our game with HD came up you can't tell me that all our hearts pounded an extra beat as kick off approached. Was this going to be the year that the Rebels cast off that "Can't beat HD thing"!

We all felt it, yea it could happen, then as the game progressed it was hey this is looking better. At half when we were up by 10 it was man we just might do this, then HD scored and we all took a gulp. But then we responded and drove it right back down and scored again and this time it was just us. Not penalties, just hard nosed Rebel football. And it happened! We won and we are the district champs in my opinion because of that game.

Well that is the past and what does it have to do with this game?

EVERYTHING!

We know our guys can play, they have proved it all season.

We know our guys can move the ball, they have scored all season, sometimes in bunches.

We know our guys can play defense, they have stopped teams all season, sometime for negative yards.

We know our guys can play with heart, pride and discipline, they have proved it all season.

WE KNOW OUR GUYS AND THEY KNOW HOW TO PLAY EVERY DOWN AND WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN!

For my final prediction I'm saying

Evadale 21

Normangee 14

Now Rebels go out and make me a prophet.

See everyone at the game and last one out of town turn out the lights. I always wanted to say that.

With the success of the LU fund raising that has been reported over the last few weeks I have a suggestion to our President Elect...

Come to Beaumont and ask some of these guys at Lamar to lead your economic team.

1. They got people to vote to raise their own fees to support football.

2. They have raised half of the 100 million that they wanted to get towards a new fund in only a couple

      of months, They still have three years to raise the remainder.

3. They have gotten sponsors for just about everything to cover all the renovations and repairs at the

      stadium, field house, training room and other facilities.

If Obama could get these guys then they could convince people that...

...a tax increase will be a good thing

...that the country can go out and ask for donations to cover new programs and the debt

...we can start selling the naming rights to national landmarks

This is just a little fun. I commend Lamar for their obvious hard work and dedication to bringing high quality education to Southeast Texas and I know they will enjoy the benefits of having a football team to root for and get excited about. Home games, a homecoming celebration around football, the chance to compete for another conference championship.

But you know the idea about naming rights to the national landmarks could work...The American Express, Washington Monument, it could work?

Well it might!

As a huge SPURS fan all I can say to the haters is you better put some distance between your team and the men is silver and black before everyone gets healthy.

If success is something that is hard to argue with then the SPURS rule the conversation.

Five titles in 10 years, sounds like a dynasty to me.

I have to put our Rebels up for one of the best.

In one state wide poll they were the 8th stingiest defense in 1A.

They only gave up 53 points in the last seven games and they pitched three shut outs. Of the other four, only two scored more two or more offensive touchdowns and only one three TD's.

They held all seven to an average of less than 100 yard of offense per game.

All in all they Rebs were a great defesive team in 2008!

Thanks for the correction, I was afraid that the Lady Bulldogs were going to have a long season if they only scored 4 or I was about ready to make reservations in Austin in March if the Lady Rebel defense can hold teams to 1 point a quarter. ;D

And now back to football!

Go 55

Keep yelling for your Bobcats, good luck against Mart!

Evadale-29

Colmesnial-4

Way to go Lady's ;D

OUCH!

Good Job Lady Rebels!

It's Tuesday before before game day Friday.

The constants are...

both teams are practicing for the game

both coaching staffs have done the pregame work to check out the other teams strengths and weaknesses

both teams will drive to Jacksonville on Friday

both teams will come out for pregame warm-ups

after that except for fans from each team cheering for their team NO ONE KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN!

If you give up when you face a team that is higher ranked than you. Then Evadale would be playing Itasca and not Normangee!

I for one am looking forward to watching the Rebels play on Friday night. I expect them to win, just as much as people from Normangee expect their team to win.

There is truly nothing like Texas High School Football and it is time of year that makes it great to be a football fan.

Go Rebels, your fans are behind you all the way. 

In 2006 the Rebels got a playoff taste.

In 2007 without a couple of early bad breaks they could have made some noise in the playoffs.

It's 2008 and I believe it is time for the Rebels best Bum Phillips impression. You older guys know what I mean...It's time to kick the door in!

I believe that on Saturday morning there could be a surprising headline in the paper that the Rebels still have another week of practice as they are moving on in the playoffs and they are still postponing the start of basketball season!

Success to all 23A teams.

You fought each other hard now fight the others even harder.

Hope all three come out on topthis weekend!

Good Post 55

You got to like a guy who loves his team. Good luck this weekend HD bring home a win.

Nuff Said!

Much has been said about High Island and Sabine Pass coming back from Ike to make a go of it after Hurricane Ike, but I would like to expand the scope of the post Ike football and volleyball to every team that had to stop and start (Remember Gustav) and stop and restart this season again after Ike.

I believe that school officials and coaches all across SETX did a great job keeping athletes from football and volleyball focused and refocused on the task at hand. With or without the hurricane some teams would make the playoffs others would not. But I believe that the attitudes shown by the teams most heavily impacted and the good will shown by those who were not hit as hard is something the area should be very proud of.

I wish success to all the teams still in the playoffs, I personally hope that at least a couple of state titles come this way by the end of the season. May many deserving athletes get a shot at moving up to the next level and that those who received injuries during the course of the season that they recover quickly and can continue to pursue competitive athletics in the future.

I do think that again HI, SP and Bridge City are to be congratulated for rising above the situation to carry on. I also know that several high schools did some great things to assist these school and people from the hardest hit areas. Schools like Colmesneil, Chester, Vidor, PNG, Nederland and Evadale. I know there were others and I hope some of you post things that other schools did to respond to the needs that are still evident in so many areas.

I think this is a great place to live and the attitudes of caring for one another are the best. Please continue to seek out ways that assistance can still be given and know this. We wear different colors to games with different mascots on our hats, but we are Southeast Texas and we take care of our own!   

Great job Cards

I am sure that this season will be looked back on as one that tested the metal of HI, and I don't mean on the football field. Everyone in Hi should be proud as you rose up and over came a difficult situation and many trying times.

We will continue to keep you in our prayers and wish you continued success in all things in HI.

HD 55

I think you must be HD biggest fan! You can sure lay it on thick sometimes.  I would live to get to meet you. I know next year when HD plays Evadale stop by the home side before you walk to the visitors stands and we will talk.

I'll be easy to spot, I'll be one with the 16-6 tattoo on my right hand with District Champs 2008 on the left one.

Oh, good luck against Mart, the better you guys do as the runner up in district the better you make us look!

Get over the Rebels and focus on the playoffs, till we meet again...next year!

Evadale vs. Normangee

Friday night @ 7:30 PM at the Tomato Bowl in Jacksonville

The Tomato Bowl! No really, you can't make something like that up.

Great job Lady Rebels

It is time to get things rolling on the basketball court.

Have a great season!

Sounds like a great place to make "Panther Salsa"!

Have a great week of practice Rebels and get ready for 48 minutes to remember!

Frustration is a terrible thing!

The main reason that it is, is that there is nothing you can do about it in most cases. If coaches had to deal with losing their jobs after a losing or even a non-playoff year then I am going to start a moving business, because if you check the number of teams that are not in the playoffs (losing seasons or just not enough wins to get in) them I could easily become a millionaire and that is just in this quarter of the state. Think of the business if I went national.

Coaching is a profession that puts its "product" on display once or twice a week during a season. The pieces to the puzzle (called a team) in this case are 15 to 18 year old young men and women. They get to practice a couple of hours a day each week after school starts. College players in all sports spend as much as 5 hours a day and professional athletes well it is their job. Most jobs do not depend on the performance of teenagers to gauge success.

There are I am sure coaches that should not be in their position. If you have a legitimate concern the place to voice it is to your local school board. But when you do ask yourself a few brief questions before you go in.

1. Why are you doing this?

    If it is because your child is not playing, you don't like losing or is it something serious that  administrators need to address.

2. Refer to question #1

I played on a team that won the first game of my senior year. We defeated the #1 ranked 4A team in the state in week 1. We had three players injured that were the heart and soul of our team. We appeared in the 5A top ten list in week two. But we traveled down from north Texas to play Ball High in Galveston in week 2 and believe me we fell like a rock from that point. We did not win again that season only a tie against FW Dunbar. Our coach was a great guy who led us through a building season the year before and through successful seasons after I graduated. The thing I remember most about that devastating season was that even in losing our coach was always the one telling us that life is not depended on the wins and losses on the field or court. Character sticks with someone forever.

I know people that have been part of state championship teams, I have even met a couple of people who have been on Super Bowl winning teams. The thing that impressed me most was that they do start the conversation "Hey, I'm a champion from fill in date here they are just people, some better than others, but just people.

Athletics is a class and coaches are teachers. Are kids learning, developing (mind and body) are they learning lessons about dealing with the good and bad that can and will happen in life, are they learning to work as a team and develop new skills that will serve them not just on the team, but in life!

I am not a coach, but I did coach for a couple of years. I do work with students and I am thankful for the coaches that have worked with my children. I have had my disagreements, but I took them to the coach and once they were said that was that.

This was a long post, but I guess I am just responding to the fact that this is the only place where you get to bash someone for their job. How do you think you would feel if someone started a post about how bad you were as a welder, construction worker, insurance agent or whatever. I doubt you would be excited about it, especially if no one used their real name to do it!

I put stats on the SP/Evadale predictions thread if you are interested

One thing I did forget is with his yardage tonight I believe Justin Crain went over the 1000 yard mark which is great considering he only got touches before half time in three game this season, due to loopsided scores.

All the Rebel Coaching staff are to be commended as this years team has put all the pieces together to bring the district crown to Evadale.

Rebels Win 62 to 0

No one really believed that the Sharks had much of a chance. But I will give them this they did not quit!

The Rebels made things look easy tonight as they racked up 469 yards of offense while allowing 14 yards for the game, (-7 in the first half and 21 in the second with the Varsity substitutes and JV defensive players playing most of the second half)

Senior RB, Justin Crain had 224 yards with four rushing TD's and a 40 punt return for a touchdown.

Senior QB, Micah Stringer had one rushing touchdown and one TD pass to senior WR, Justin Royal.

Senior RB, Wes Massingil had a touchdown

Junior WR, Casey Stringer had a touchdown

Senior CB, had a TD called back on an interception run back as time expired before half time on a penalty

The Rebel Defense continues to be very good and is ranked as the 8th best defense in 1A by one web site. The Rebels shut out three regular season opponents in their last seven games and total of 53 points in the other four games.

The Rebels have a seven game win streak going and they have extra time to scout, prepare and get healed for their 2nd round game against the winner of the Bi-district game between Normangee and Itasca.

The Evadale CIA (Christians in Action) Club presented SP administrators 12 $100 Wal-Mart gift cards to help students and their families continue with their recovery from Hurricane Ike.

Rebels tonight you go for your seventh win in a row. It has been a great season! The second season starts next Friday? Take care of the business at hand the, SP Sharks and keep everyone healthy.

You make us proud and we are behind you all the way!

I actually saw Tony Franklin (FW Eastern Hills) and Russell Erkslabin (FW Arlington Heights) kick 50+ yard field goals in the same game (Russell's name is mispelled I'm sure).

It was to my knowlegde the first time two different kickers kicked 50+ field goals in the same game (1976). They of course went on to kick for A&M and Texas, where they continued the battles and even into the NFL.

They may not have been the best athletes, but it was an incredible sight, one that does not get repeated often even in the pros today. 

Sabine Pass at Evadale

7 PM tomorrow (Thursday)