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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HARPERSVILLE – The Coosa Valley Rebels shut out the Evangel Christian Lions of Montgomery for three quarters, but ultimately, the visitors’ first-quarter rally decided the contest.

Evangel used 22 unanswered points in the opening period to defeat Coosa Valley 22-6 on Friday, Sept. 27 at Coosa Valley Academy.

Despite the loss, the Rebels got the upper hand early on as they struck first in the matchup.

Two minutes into the game, Landon Payton connected with Jordin Rogers from 50 yards out for a touchdown. While the 2-point conversion failed, Coosa Valley was up 6-0 in the AISA Class A battle.

However, a minute later, the Lions responded with a rushing touchdown which tied up the game at 6-6 after their own 2-point try failed.

Evangel then took the lead with four minutes remaining in the first quarter, hitting paydirt on the ground before running in a 2-point conversion to make the lead 14-6.

The Lions added one more score before the end of the quarter as they found the end zone twice in the air, first off a passing touchdown and then on the ensuing 2-point conversion, going up 22-6 at the end of the first.

However, that proved to be the final score from either team as the Rebels defense recovered and kept Evangel out of the end zone for the final three quarters of the game.

Rhett Johnson led the defense with 10 tackles, and Payton, Jake McArthur, Kai Santiago and Ethan Hollingsworth each had a tackle.

Over on offense, Payton finished 4-for-7 for 65 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also ran 13 times for 37 yards to lead the team in that category.

Rogers was his top receiver with 66 yards off three catches, one of which was the early 50-yard touchdown. In addition, he carried the ball five times for eight yards.

Other rushers included Johnson going seven yards off three carries and McArthur taking a pair of yards off a trio of touches.

Johnson also punted the ball twice for a total of 61 yards, averaging 30.5 yards per punt.

Coosa Valley dropped to 1-4 with the loss and will now travel to Columbiana for a county battle against the defending state champion Cornerstone Christian Chargers on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.