By KALA BOLTON / Staff Writer

HARPERSVILLE — The Coosa Valley Academy football team fell to the visiting Autauga Academy Generals 35-5 on Aug. 26 during their season opener.

The Generals (1-0) scored early with an 11-yard touchdown pass on the first drive, and their momentum never slowed.

Autauga Academy capped off an intercepted pass from Rebels’ senior quarterback Cody Wood with a 4-yard touchdown run with two minutes left in the first quarter. The Generals quickly increased their lead to 21-0 after a 16-yard touchdown pass.

The Rebels (0-1) scored their first points with 4:45 left in the half after senior linebacker Matthew Zettler tackled an Autauga Academy wide receiver in the endzone for a safety, bringing the score to 2-21.

“I feel like we didn’t quit, but I don’t think we showed everything we had,” Zettler said. “We had some unexpected leaders show up. It’s just a hit and miss because we’re still trying to work some of the bugs out of our system.”

The Rebels’ defense ended the half strong, halting the Generals on two plays within Coosa Valley’s own 10-yard-line.

Zettler helped start the second half strong, recovering an Autauga fumble on the Rebels’ 2-yard-line, but after a failed fake punt on fourth down, the Generals took over on downs and scored a three yard touchdown with 6:21 left in the third, extending their lead to 28-2.
The Rebels’ offense began to pick up momentum on a drive that started with an 18-yard pass from Wood to senior wide receiver Hunter Winslett. The offense drove the ball to the Generals’ 8-yard-line where senior kicker Cody Garrett knocked in a field goal, bringing the score to 5-28 to close out the third quarter.

The Generals scored once more on a 23-yard touchdown pass with 4:07 left in the game, lifting them up over the Rebels 35-5.

In his first game as a Rebel, Wood completed 7-of-14 for 85 total passing yards with three interceptions and led the team with 21 rushing yards on eight carries. Senior wide receiver Steven Cryer totaled 35 receiving yards followed by junior wide receiver Adam McCranie with 22.

“We’ve got skilled guys who can get it done, but our line is struggling,” first-year head coach Bobby Hughes said of his Rebels. “They’re just getting beat upfront.”

The defending Alabama Independent Schools Association Class 1A champions replaced a number of players this season, and Hughes said he believes the team is a work in progress.

“We’ve got a lot of inexperienced players,” Hughes said. “It’s going to take us a while because we’re young it a lot of positions.

“But we played better than we did last week.”