By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Chalk up win number one for new Riverside head football coach Tim Taffi. For the coach himself, it surely came not a moment too soon.

Certainly, he couldn’t wait any longer to see his team in action. After Riverside’s first game was cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav, Friday scheduled home game with Hanson was moved to Saturday night as to avoid danger from Hurricane Ike – then moved one final time to Monday night.

But once the Rebels took the field, it proved to be worth the wait for Mickey Roussel’s longtime assistant. The Rebels held Hanson to 65 yards of total offense, including -7 rushing yards, on their way to a 27-0 non-district win at home.

While enjoying the victory, Taffi said that his team still has work to do to get where it needs to be.

“Obviously, the first win feels great,” he said. “But offensively, we made a ton of mistakes. After a win, you don’t want to dwell on the negatives. The effort was there. But we’ve got some things to work on if we’re going to be a playoff team.”

Remi Poirrier recovered a fumble, intercepted a pass and scored the game’s first touchdown.

“We had to get our respect back after (the team���s jamboree game and final scrimmage),” said Poirrier. “We’re 1-0 now. We got it done when it counts and we played together, as a team, which we hadn’t done yet.”

Penalties plagued the Rebel offense throughout the night, ruining some drives and stalling some others after big plays.

But as the Rebels adjust to a new offensive system under Taffi, the defense forced a number of Hanson miscues – and the offense was more than capable of cashing in.

A bad snap on the Tigers’ first punt of the game led to Riverside taking over at the Hanson 8-yard line. After a holding call on a 6-yard Poirrier run set Riverside back to the 18, Poirrier took his next carry off tackle to his left and scored to make it 7-0 after Matt Graves’ point after kick with 3:59 remaining in the first quarter.

Poirrier came up big again on the second play of the ensuing Hanson drive, recovering a fumble at the Tiger 35. After two runs by quarterback Darnell Rachal netted a combined 29 yards, Jake Roussel powered his way in from the 6-yard line to make it 13-0 Riverside with 2:20 left in the first quarter. The point after attempt was blocked.

Two penalties and two runs for loss on Riverside’s next possession left the Rebels in what seemed a sure punting situation on fourth-and-31 from the Rebels’ own 39. But Rachal, also the Rebels punter, fired a quick pass to an uncovered Roussel who was lined up wide. He scampered for 34-yards and a first down. Two plays later, Rachal scored on a quarterback sneak to make it 19-0, and he’d run for the two-point conversion to make it 21-0 with 8:08 left in the second quarter.

Riverside’s final touchdown wouldn’t come until 7:45 left in the fourth quarter, when Rachal tossed his first career touchdown pass at Riverside to Dylan Marse from 24-yards away. It made it 27-0 after the PAT attempt was no good.

Rachal was 2-for-8 with 58 yards through the air. He rushed 10 times for 68 yards. Roussel rushed 10 times for 58 yards and Poirrier totaled 64 yards of total offense.

Alex Dornier and Jesse Malbrough each recovered Hanson fumbles. Bryan Abadie recorded an interception.

“Our defense was really outstanding,” said Taffi. “I was very pleased.”

Rachal started the game at quarterback, while the Rebels’ quarterback this past spring, Bobby Smith, moved back to wide receiver, where he played productively a season ago.

“We want to get our best guys all out on the field,” said Taffi of the move to start Smith and Rachal together.  “I thought (Rachal) played very well for his first game. He can make some things happen when things break down.”

Now, Riverside’s on to a new challenge: win two games in a single week, a task which it will attempt to finish this Friday as the Rebels travel to St. Thomas Aquinas.

“It’ll be tough. We’ll only have three practices really,” said Poirrier. “But they’ll have to do the same thing.”