The Zion Chapel Rebels traveled 12 minutes to Elba Friday night in search of their first win of the season. After a tight first half, the game got away from the Rebels and they fell to the Tigers, 68-13.

The Rebel coaching staff had preached discipline and hard work all week long in practice. Although the score didn’t necessarily show it, head coach Bradley Bowers thought it was a step in the right direction.

“We played much better than we did last week, and I saw a big improvement,” Bowers said. “We told the guys all week that we weren’t concerned with the scoreboard as much as we were with ourselves.”

The Rebels matched up with a tough Elba team Friday night. The Tigers feature a tough offense that lines differently almost every play.

“We were concerned this week about them being able to score on any play,” Bowers said. “They did what I thought they were going to do tonight. They spread us out tonight. They threw a couple of deep balls on us.”

The Rebel coaching staff had urged the players all week not to look at the scoreboard during this weeks game and only focus on getting better at what the team can control.

Penalties and turnovers was a problem for the Rebels a week ago and they looked to improve on that this week.

“We cut down on those this week and we didn’t fumble the ball tonight,” Bowers said. “That’s a plus for us. We told the guys that tonight was going to be all about small battles.”

Several Rebels stood out to coach Bowers on Friday night. Kicker Dawson Hamline nailed a 43-yard field goal. Chase Peoples had a good night running the football and quarterback Cade Mobley scored the team’s loan touchdown on the night.

The Rebels are spending most of the first part of the season on the road and Bowers is ready to return home to play.

“You don’t want to make excuses, but it will be nice to be able to play at home next week,” Bowers said. “This was the closest thing to a home game that we can have.”

Next week the Rebels will host Calhoun. Kick off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“We are going to work on our physicality by our offensive line and we are going to fix our backs and coach them to run hard,” Bowers said. “We just need to be in the pattern of having a good attitude and being a good teammate. We need to do the things we are supposed to do and control the things we can control.”