By LORI LYONS

Special to L’Observateur

 

After four weeks of frustration, the Riverside Rebels went on a scoring frenzy Friday night on the way to a 67-6 victory against an outmanned and outmatched Cohen team.

Freshman quarterback Deuce Wallace completed 9 of 12 passes for 146 yards and four touchdowns, connecting with four different receivers. Running back Jonquail Sanders had 11 carries for 105 yards and three touchdowns, plus he caught a touchdown pass.

The Riverside defense meanwhile came through with three touchdowns off of turnovers, two in just the first quarter as the Rebels took a 28-0 lead. Only the special teams broke down, allowing Cohen’s Tony Curtis to return one of the Rebels’ many kickoffs for an 80-yard touchdown just before the half.

“It feels a lot better than the last four weeks,” said Wallace. “We felt confident going into it. We just had to focus on the little things and try to develop our running game a little bit. I was a little more comfortable. Tried to spread the ball around a lot to a lot of different receivers. And our younger guys got to play a little bit and that’s always a good thing. But we still have a long road ahead of us.”

“

Oh it was a lot of fun,” said Sanders. “It feels great to win one.”

After the game, first-year head coach Bill Stubbs seemed to enjoy giving his first winning post-game victory speech in a long time.

“Yep. It’s been about 12 years I guess,” said Stubbs, who was the longtime coach at Salmen before retiring more than a decade ago. “It’s nice.”

And the game was essentially over by the time Cohen’s very large band arrived with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Cohen was on the move early with its first possession when Melvin Butler fumbled at the Riverside 47-yard line. Four plays later, Wallace connected with receiver Von Julien to score from 42 yards out. Evan Veron’s PAT made it 7-0 with 6:48 to play in the quarter.

Cohen’s second possession ended with another fumble. This one a scoop and score by Riverside’s Xavier Ray, who returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. With a just over five minutes to play in the quarter, Riverside led 14-0.

Cohen couldn’t move the ball on its next possession. After a punt, Riverside took over at the Green Hornets’ 37 yard line and needed only four plays to score. On second-and-10 at the 24, Wallace connected with Herb McGee, who dove into the end zone. After Veron’s PAT, Riverside led 21-0.

And that’s about the time Cohen’s highly-touted band arrived at the stadium in Reserve. They got there just in time to see the Hornets get pinned deep into their own territory. Punting from his own end zone, Cohen’s Frederick Badon scrambled to cover a bad snap. But Riverside’s Dustin Madere got to it first, recovering for the touchdown just as time expired on the first quarter.

Riverside added two more touchdowns in the third quarter, both short runs by Sanders. Then T.J. St. Pierre capped the scoring when he returned an interception 65 yards for a score.

The Rebels finished with 275 yards of offense while holding Cohen to 99. Quarterback Shacolon Warren completed six of 18 passes for 49 yards.

“You’ve got to take it in the context it’s in and what we have to be able to do to build on the next one,” Stubbs said. “We’ve got to continue to get better. We can’t pat ourselves on the back but for tonight and tomorrow.”