Rebels’ disastrous second quarter leads to blowout loss

SWANSEA, S.C. — The Rebels’ 2025 football season didn’t get off to the start they would hope. Mid-Carolina(0-1) fell 49-7 in their season opener on the road to Swansea(1-0) on Thursday, Aug. 21st.

The Rebels and the Tigers got together on Thursday night due to the threat of bad weather on Friday evening. Regardless, Swansea was too much for Mid-Carolina. The Rebels stormed back in the second half to nearly pull off the comeback win last season in week one when the teams played.

This year, the Tigers jumped on them for start to finish. The two teams were both sluggish to start the game but the Tigers struck first with a touchdown drive late in the first quarter.

It didn’t take long for Swansea to go two scores as they quickly found the end zone on another scoring drive in the opening seconds of the second quarter. The Rebels finally responded with a scoring drive on their own with about 9 minutes left in the second quarter.

Then, it was all the Tigers for the remainder of the game. It started with a 75-yard touchdown run from senior running back Dante Caldwell. Then, junior quarterback Davis Ruff threw a pick-six to extend the Tigers lead, 28-7.

The home team went on another long scoring drive that ended with Caldwell scoring his second rushing touchdown of the night. Swansea added on two more scores to take a 49-7 lead into halftime.

Mid-Carolina didn’t have many bright spots in the game and Ruff struggled. The junior took over at quarterback late in the season in 2024 after Ty Floyd went down with a ankle injury. The limited experience showed in this game and he really struggled along with the Rebels’ offensive line and rushing attack.

The second half was delayed due to lightning, but the it didn’t matter because it was no sparks for the Rebels in the second half.

“I felt we were a little behind coming into this game due to a late season scrimmage game being canceled and us not being able to play our Jamboree game last week and it showed. I am still hopeful for the season but when you are behind with a schedule like ours then things can turn bad before good,” said Rebels’ head coach Chris Arnoult.

Mid-Carolina will have to quickly turn the page and move their focus to rivalry week. The Rebels will travel to Newberry to face the Bulldogs on Friday, Aug. 29th at 7:30 p.m.