Rattlers take a bite out of Burlington

Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattler football took on the Burlington Huskies on their home field in a conference game, but the Rattlers came away victorious.

The Rattlers won 68-16.

“The past four or five years, the games with Burlington came down to a point or two,” Head Coach Jack Cobb said. “I told the boys this season to anticipate the same type of game.”

Cobb said the team was late getting to Burlington due to construction on roads and that the team only had about 15 minutes to warm up.

“Burlington came out and drove the ball against us in the first two possessions and we found ourselves trailing 15-16 in the 1st quarter,” Cobb said. “Then the 2nd quarter we got a couple stops and started scoring.”

Cobb said the team came together that 2nd quarter and by halftime the score was 39-16.

“I told the team not to take Burlington for granted during the half,” Cobb said. “They are a good team and I said for us not to underestimate them and think that they couldn’t come back.”

Cobb said the Rattlers put forth a real team effort. He said several players shined but it was because the team jelled.

“We played a great game on offense and defense,” Cobb said. “It was fun to watch because, as a coach, you always wonder if, as a team, they will step up and boy this team did step up.”

Cobb said he shuffled players throughout the game, and he got great results as a team effort.

”I had two or three kids at one time to fill any of the positions I needed,” Cobb said. “That really helps us. I am really happy with what we are doing so far this season, but the Western Conference is going to be a dogfight. It is not going to be easy to win this in this conference.”

Kannadis Peroulis had 16 carries for 316 yards and Seth Maxson had six carries for 101 yards.

“Kannadis, two years ago in his freshman year, missed the whole season due to a finger injury,” Cobb said. “So he worked on getting up to speed last year and also got bigger. He now is playing with confidence and really showing good things for us.”

Peroulis is not the only player Cobb feels good about.

“We have several players that are contributing defensively and offensively,” Cobb said. “Seth (Maxson) just steps in when we need him to and besides rushing for over a 100 yards, he had some good tackles. I have several players that can rise up when I need them to.”

Cobb said some of his players shined in stats, but he feels stats don’t always give the full picture of how a team is playing.

“In a win like we had against Burlington, it took all the players to come together as a team,” Cobb said. “When you score 53 straight points in six man, after you give up 16 in the first two tries, says a lot about a team and what they are made of.”

Cobb said the game was one of the best the team had played in the past couple years.

The Rattlers got four interceptions and stopped any attempts the Huskies tried.

Cobb is happy to win this week, but is wary of his upcoming game against the Dubois Rams.

“We lost to them last year right at the end of the game,” Cobb said. “It was one of the toughest losses I have ever had as a coach.”

The next game will be home against a 2-1 overall Dubois team at 2 p.m. on September 24. LSRV is 3-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play.