Rattlers sink fangs into Dubois

When the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers met the Dubois Rams on the gridiron last year, the Rattlers ended up losing a very tight game. That memory had Head Coach Jack Cobb very nervous because, he said, the Rattlers were basically facing the exact same team.

It was a very different outcome with LSRV winning 46-0.

“We came out knowing we had to play a complete game against Dubois,” Cobb said. “You have to beat Dubois because they never beat themselves.”

Cobb said in the 1st quarter his team made a few mistakes.

“Offensively we were just not dialed in,” Cobb said. “We had some plays that were not great, but they worked. Sometimes in six-man football this happens. On the other hand, our defense was stout and we kept them scoreless, beating them 46-0.”

He said the score was not telling how difficult the game was.

“It wasn’t easy at all,” Cobb said. “It was a physical game that we just kept plugging along and made some plays when we need to. We just really held strong on defense.”

In the 1st quarter, the Rattlers scored 6 points. The 2nd quarter saw them put up 20 points making it 26-0 at half-time.

“It was a complete team effort,” Cobb said. “I got to have a little more of passing game than we did against Burlington and we moved the ball consistently as the game went on.”

He said he feels there is good balance with the team and is happy to see it against a strong, physical and disciplined team like the Rams.

“It was the least amount of points we have scored all year,” Cobb said. “That is a credit to what Dubois put up against us defensively because all other games we have scored in the 60s.”

He said last year the team was very young with no seniors and only one junior. Cobb said he mentally challenged the team to remember last year’s loss and not succumb to losing focus on football because of homecoming activities happening this week.

“The 1st quarter was a struggle, maybe because of a combination of things, and at half-time being 26-0 there was no reason to feel secure this game was won when you are playing a team like Dubois,” Cobb said. “This team had 68 points against Meteetsee the week before. I certainly was not comfortable with our score at half-time because I knew they could explode. In six-man anything can happen. I didn’t relax until it was in the last three minutes.”

The team scored 12 points in the 3rd quarter and 8 points in the last quarter.

“Honestly, we just played a solid game,” Cobb said. “It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was a good hard fought effort by all the team. All the boys stepped up when they needed to. It was a big win.”

Cobb said he had four players score defensively.

“We swarmed on the ball and all of them did what they needed to do to win,” Cobb said. “Offensively Kannadis (Peroulis) had a good rushing game and he is getting stronger and stronger.”

Peroulis carried the ball 17 times for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 2 receiving touchdowns. Other players doing well were Seth Maxson and Zander Risner each scoring a touchdown.

Cobb said his backup quarterback, Zane Matheson, was doing an excellent job, completing 8 out of 13 passes for 87 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“He has really stepped up,” Cobb said. “Zane takes the job very seriously and it shows.”

Cobb said he likes where the team is at in attitude. It isn’t over-confident knowing that the West is a difficult conference this year.

“You can’t take anything for granted out here,” Cobb said. “These are good teams in this conference.”

The next varisity game will be against the Meeteetse Longhorns on October 10 in Baggs.