WELLS &045; For years the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers have ruled not only their conference but been one of the top high school football teams in the state.

But their run at the top might be finished. For this year anyway.

United South Central improved its record to 5-0 and handed WEM its second loss of the year with a 27-6 homecoming triumph at Wells Friday night. The Bucs were rated No. 5 and the Rebels No. 7 in last week’s Class 2A poll.

&uot;It’s a major stepping stone for us,&uot; said Rebels coach Brent Schimek. &uot;We had never beaten them before. But we’ve got to keep building on it. If we lose next week, this won’t mean much.&uot;

The Rebels struck first Friday, converting a fourth-and-12 situation into a 22-yard touchdown pass from Ben Wetzell to Nate Pederson.

The Bucs answered on their first play, when Bryan Woitas took a short sideline pass from Brent Vollbrecht and raced 81 yards to the end zone.

The Rebels put together another scoring drive, ending with a 6-yard run by Steven Wood, to take a 13-6 lead at halftime.

It remained 13-6 until the Rebels put together a 90-yard drive that concluded with a 1-yard run by Wetzell in the fourth quarter. A 31-yard run by Trevor Haugh was the key play in the drive.

A 20-yard run by John Niebuhr sparked USC’s final drive, with Niebuhr scoring on a 5-yard run.

Wood led the defense with nine tackles and an interception. Andy Schroeder had five tackles and three sacks.

Dan Voigt’s punting was a key for the Rebels, according to Schimek.

WEM &045;

6

0

0

0

&045;

6

USC

&045;

13

0

0

14

&045;

27

First Quarter

USC &045; Pederson 22 pass from Wetzell (Knutson kick)

WEM &045; Woitas 81 pass from Vollbrecht (kick failed)

USC &045; Wood 6 run (kick failed)

Second Quarter

No scoring.

Third Quarter

No scoring.

Fourth Quarter

USC &045; Wetzell 1 run (Knutson kick)

USC &045; Niebuhr 5 run (Knutson kick)

WEM, USC

Rushing yards: 73, 243

Passing yards: 147, 146

Total yards: 230, 389

Pen-Yds.: 7-55, 10-100

Turnovers: 2, 1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING&045; USC, Niebuhr 25-109; Wetzell 16-63; Haugh 12-38.

PASSING&045; USC, Wetzell 8-17-1, 146.

RECEIVING&045; USC, Adams 2-57; Pederson 2-40; Wood 2-26; Haugh 2-23.