The Delisle Rebels took care of business with a convincing 42-21 win over the Tisdale Tornados in SHSAA 9-aside provincial semi-final game played in Delisle on Saturday, November 6.
Tisdale won the toss and deferred to the second half giving Delisle the opening possesion.
Delisle running back Corbin Ebben busted through the line for a first down. A holding penalty on a run by Tyler Sanders backed the home squad up 10 yards and eventually resulted in stopping the drive, forcing the Rebels to punt.
Ebben would have a monster game for the Rebels as their running back, but would also contribute in a big way as their punter.
The snap was high forcing him to knock it down. He then calmly gained control of the ball and got off a decent punt in the face of a Tisdale onslaught.
Tisdale started their first drive at mid-field and were able to move the ball down to Delisle’s 21 yard line before the Rebel’s defence stuffed two Tornado running plays, and created a turnover on downs when they made a great tackle on a short pass to running back Jakeb Cortus.
Delisle’s offence quickly moved the ball into Tisdale’s side of half with runs by Ebben and Sanders, before Ebben got the home squad on the board with a 40 yard touchdown run. A successful convert gave the Rebels a 7-0 lead.
They increased their lead in the second quarter as Ebben capped off a long drive with a six yard touchdown run.
Tisdale responded with a long drive of their own, setting up a short touchdown run by Cortus to make the score 14-7 at halftime.
The Tornados started strong in their first possession of the second half. Several runs setup a short touchdown run by Derek Wassil on a quarterback keeper to tie the game.
A great return on the resulting kickoff gave Delisle the ball at Tisdale’s 35 yard line. A series of runs setup a short touchdown run by Ebben.
Delisle then increased their lead after their defence recovered a Tisdale fumble at mid-field. It looked like Sanders was going to hit paydirt on a long pitch and run play. But a great shoestring tackle by a Tisdale defender stopped the attempt short of the goaline.
This setup Corbin Ebben’s fourth touchdown on another short run.
Tisdale kept the game close when Wassil scored on another quarterback keeper with 8:28 left in the game.
The Rebels would then blow the game wide open on a pair of long touchdown plays. The first by Tyler Sanders from deep in his end at 7:56 and the second as Austin Gramson escaped a Tornado tackler and sprinted down the sideline to score at 4:34.
The defence took care of the rest stopping Tisdale at mid-field.
The Delisle Rebels win sets up epic provincial final against the Martensville Royals at Martensville on Saturday, November 13. Martensville did their part with a convincing 62-25 win in Melville in the other 9-aside semi-final. The two teams had finished one and two in conference four regular season action and are very familiar with each other.
The football excellence of our region is further highlighted in the 6-aside finals.
Clavet defeated Shellbrook 70-32 to advance to the 2A 6-aside final. They are set to host Wakaw who advanced with a 72-33 win over Watrous.
Hafford is set to host Carrot River in the 1A 6-aside final.