Photo - Kassity Boor
The Todd County Central Rebels will be looking to change recent history Friday night as they load up the bus and head to Marion. The Rebels face off against the Crittenden County Rockets in the opening round of the Class 2A football playoffs.
The Rebels are the third seed in the 1st Region 2nd District, while the Rockets are the second seed in the 1st District.
Recent history has not been kind to the Rebels in this series. Over the past 25 years, Todd County Central and Crittenden County have met six times, with the Rockets winning all six.
The last time the two teams met was in 2019, when the Rockets took a 49-22 decision over the Rebels. That night Xander Tabor rushed for 129 yards and caught four passes for another 69 yards in leading Crittenden County to the victory in the regular season finale.
The closest the Rebels have come during that tie was back in 1999 when Crittenden County claimed a tough 7-6 win.
The teams have three common opponents this season. Todd Central lost to Webster County and Owensboro Catholic, and beat Ohio County. Crittenden County beat both Ohio County and Webster County, but like the Rebels, were handled by the Aces.
The Rebels will be looking for a big game from freshman quarterback Miles Reding, who became the school’s single-season passing touchdown leader last week. Reding has passed 1,061 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for 609 yards and 9 touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Rebels will need Kamari Harris to be his normal disruptive self. Harris has 65 tackles, with 17 of them coming for loss. He has one forced fumble and four recovered fumbles on the year.
The Rebels will be looking to slow down the Rockets’ air attack. Micah Newcom has passed for 1,759 yards and 20 touchdowns with only three interceptions. Six different Rocket players have caught a touchdown pass this season.
Kickoff between the Rebels and the Rockets is set for 7pm in Marion. The game can be heard on WEKT 1070 and wektradio.com.
