WELLS – At times, the offense sputtered for the United South Central Rebels.

Wednesday, October 24, 2001

WELLS – At times, the offense sputtered for the United South Central Rebels.

The defense was tough all night.

The Rebels’ defensive line controlled the tempo, helping shut out eighth-seeded Springfield 37-0 in an opening-round Section 2AAA football playoff game at Wells Tuesday night.

&uot;We had some struggles on offense in the first half at times, but our defense came through and held them,&uot; said Rebels coach Brent Schimek. &uot;That’s what we’ve got to do in the playoffs.&uot;

The Rebels improved to 8-1 and advanced to the semifinals on Saturday, when they’ll host 5-4 Minnesota Valley Lutheran at 4 or 4:30 at Wells.

On Tuesday, Schimek said the defense was led by the interior line play of Andy Schroeder, Matt Linder, Tim Mikolai and John Bathke.

&uot;They pretty much shut down their run game and forced them to throw,&uot; said Schimek. &uot;When they did throw, we were able to put some good pressure on their quarterback.&uot;

Also playing well defensively were Chance Kimpton with five tackles and a blocked punt and Trevor Haugh with five tackles and an interception. Jon Niebuhr returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown.

Noel Johnson ran for 95 yards on 16 carries, Jon Beyer 65 yards on 15 attempts. Trent Ulrich kicked a field goal and four extra points.

USC 7 10 7 13 – 37

SPR 0 0 0 0 – 0

First Quarter

USC-Johnson 13 run (Ulrich kick)

Second Quarter

USC-Iverson 25 pass from Wetzell (Ulrich kick)

USC-Ulrich 27 field goal

Third Quarter

USC-Beyer 2 run (Ulrich kick)

Fourth Quarter

USC-Beyer 17 run (Ulrich kick)

USC-Niebuhr 73 interception return (run failed)

SPR USC

Rushing yards 118 152

Passing yards 60 42

Total yards 178 194

Turnovers 5 1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-USC, Johnson 16-95, Beyer 15-65.

PASSING-USC, Wetzell 4-11-1, 42.

RECEIVING-USC, Iverson 1-25, Halvorson 2-13, Beyer 1-4.