Former Desert Hills star Brennan Adams catches a pass for the Dixie Rebels Saturday night, Utah Shock at Dixie Rebels, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2013 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
ST. GEORGE – An enthusiastic crowd of football fans, most of them cheering for the hometown Dixie Rebels, gathered at Dixie High School’s Walt Brook Stadium Saturday night.
Former Dixie High star and current Dixie Rebel Justin Cummings (4) is pursued by a defender, Utah Shock at Dixie Rebels, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2013 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
The Rebels, who have been at or near the top of the Rocky Mountain Football League every season, dropped their home-opener to the Utah Shock 27-20 in overtime.
Formerly the St. George Blitz, the Dixie is a semi-pro football team that features mostly former local high school and college stars.
No less than 48 local residents are listed on the roster and most of them are familiar names from Region 9 football as well as Dixie State and Southern Utah Universities.
The Rebels opened the season last week on the road with a 37-8 win over the Rocky Mountain Mudducks in a game played at Viewmont High School’s Vikings Stadium.
This week, the Rebels trailed late in the game, but got the equalizing score in the closing moments. The Shock responded by scoring the only TD of the extra period to take the win.
Chad Kjar caught a touchdown pass from Terry Smothers and Jordan Kjar set up the touchdown in overtime to help the Shock.
Former Dixie High running back Justin Cummings had a nice game and former Dixie State College star Shawn Mitchell returned an interception for a touchdown for the Rebels, who are 1-1.
This was the Shock’s first game. They play at Rocky Mountain next week. Dixie plays at the Utah Stealth next Saturday and returns home to meet the Wasatch Revolution Apr. 27.
Shock QB Terry Smothers attempts a pass on a gorgeous evening in Dixie, Utah Shock at Dixie Rebels, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2013 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George NewsDixie’s David Bishoff (24) gets a big block and looks for daylight Saturday night, Utah Shock at Dixie Rebels, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2013 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George NewsDixie fans were having a good time despite the loss Saturday night, Utah Shock at Dixie Rebels, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2013 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
Former Desert Hills star Brennan Adams catches a pass for the Dixie Rebels Saturday night, Utah Shock at Dixie Rebels, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2013 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m.
Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.
It was a good game love coming down to st.george to play! good luck with the rest of your games rebels see yall in a few weeks and hudrockson the rebels web page is http://www.dixierebelsfootball.com enjoy
Where can I find more info about the Rebels? I would like to attend some of the games…
It was a good game love coming down to st.george to play! good luck with the rest of your games rebels see yall in a few weeks and hudrockson the rebels web page is http://www.dixierebelsfootball.com enjoy
Thank you, Bryan. I appreciate that!