By Fred Guarino

The Lownde Signal

The Lowndes Academy Rebels under first year head
football coach Matt Marshall faced a hungry
group of Clarke Prep Gators on the road in Grove
Hill for the first game of the season, Friday
night, falling 52-26 in a regional tilt. ”
I thought the kids played real hard. I think
we’ve got to learn to be a little bit more
consistent, maybe a little bit more
disciplined,” Marshall said.”We had some
turnovers that put us in bad situations,” he
said. “We need to learn to finish plays…
finish drives. And one thing, we’re a little bit
out of shape. We’ve got to get in better shape,”
Marshall said.
The new headman acknowledged that his Rebels
were up against a team in Clarke Prep that is
picked to play for the 2A championship against
Edgewood Academy.
“So, I guess right out of the gate, we were
starting with one of the toughest opponents on
our schedule,” Marshall said.
He said that could be both good and bad… one
of the best measuring sticks of the season.
However, “We’ve got to learn from our mistakes
and be able to compete a little bit better than
we were able to compete…,” he said.
Sophomore quarterback Cody Harrell was a man-
child for the Rebels, leading his team with 88
yards rushing and completing 10 of 18 passes for
two touchdowns and 161 yards.
Marshall said Harrell needs to get a little
better at decision making in the passing game
but, “All in all his first game as varsity
quarterback not bad at all.”
Junior Garrett Headley was the leading receiver
for Lowndes Academy, catching four passes for
111 yards and scoring three touchdowns. He
scored twice via pass reception and rushed for
one score.
Headley was also a beast for the Rebels, leading
the team in defense with eight tackles.Junior
John Blackmon and senior Toby King rang up six
tackles each for the Rebels. King also scored a
touchdown, and there was one 2-point conversion.
While Marshall had good words for Headley,
Blackmon and King, “Some of our young kids are
going to have to grow up real fast and some of
the older kids are going to have to be better
leaders,” he said.
Former head coach Art Sullivan, who provided the
stats for this article, said the Rebels scoring
came near the end of the game.
He said the Rebels rushed for 180 yards and
passed for 161 yards for a total 341 yards.