Keshon Williams (5) carrying the ball and attempting to avoid Saluda defenders.
                                 Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com

Keshon Williams (5) carrying the ball and attempting to avoid Saluda defenders.

Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com

<p>Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com</p>

Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com

<p>Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com</p>

Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com

<p>Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com</p>

Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com

<p>Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com</p>

Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com

<p>Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com</p>

Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com

<p>Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com</p>

Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com

<p>Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com</p>

Greg Hollis | ghollis@www.newberryobserver.com

PROSPERITY — Mid-Carolina defense that was supposed to be the backbone of their team this year, struggled in their home opener loss to Saluda. The Rebels start off the season 0-1 after a 42-10 loss to the Tigers.

The Rebels’ defense were without star defensive back Nolan Palmore(meniscus) and senior running back Zylan Agnew (foot/ankle). The Tigers drove right down the field on their opening drive and punched it in with a rushing touchdown. The Rebels made a huge stop midway through the first quarter to force the punt, but then muffed the punt. The Tigers took advantage of the great field position and punched the ball in on the ground from about 15 yards out to extend their lead to 14-0 in the first quarter.

For the Rebels’ offense, they failed to get any push from their offensive line, which stalled their run game. Keshon Williams was held in check and had his night end early in the third quarter.

The Tigers put two more scores on the board in the second quarter and went into halftime with a comfortable 28-0 lead.

“Well, you know we hurt ourselves a few times and gave them good field position a few times. We couldn’t execute in the first quarter and really the first half. I’ll take the blame for that,” said head coach Chris Arnoult. “Saluda is a super team and very well coached. It was a great test for us. We got a lot of things we have to correct and at least we know what we need to correct now.”

The Tigers picked up where they left in the first half and scored on their second offensive drive in the third quarter to basically put the game out of reach.

The Rebels showed signs of life late in the third quarter after interception from Ryan Conder, which eventually set up a one-yard touchdown run by Wyatt Mazza for the first points of the game. The Tigers scored another fourth quarter touchdown on the ground, but Chris Chapman notch a 21-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter for the Rebels.

The story of the game for the Rebels was a lot of missed tackles, defense was depleted with injuries, and offensive line didn’t show up. The defense also gave up well over 250 total rushing yards.

“Well, this game is called football for a reason. You have to tackle and block. We weren’t able to do either one real well and we got to work on our technique like keeping our head up and running on our feet through contact,” said Arnoult. “We will get better. We played with a lot of young guys tonight, probably played six or seven freshman throughout the night and not just at the end of the game. We had a lot of young guys playing.”

The Rebels will hit the road to take on Chapin next Friday.

Reach Greg Hollis @ 803-768-3117 or on Twitter @TheNBONews