The Holy Redeemer Rebels Football team is off and running in their 2022 campaign. Thus far the team is 1-1 and was looking for their second win of the season as Hinton rolled into town on September 29th for the annual Rocky Mountain Classic, which would see the two rivals square off for the Chris Johnston Cup.
The Rebels came out flat in the first half and Hinton took full advantage getting out to an early lead. With a couple of successful onside kick recoveries by Hinton things were looking dire at half time with the Rebels trailing by a huge margin 55-14!
The coaching staff, led by Mike Bachinsky, then thought hard about how to turn things around. After an inspiring half time speech by the coaches the team was reminded that “we don't have to play football...we get to play football.” With a renewed sense of gratitude the team was fired up to redeem their first half and restore their pride.
“We needed our defence to make a stop,” says Team Captain and grade 12 student Pacen Bowman. “Then we knew our offence would produce.”
And produce they did! The Rebels were able to score in every possession in the second half of the game and converted all of their 2 points after kicks.
Hope was starting to come back to the side lines as they went to work chipping away at the massive lead Hinton had put up. “We can do this” was the message by grade 10 Captain Hayden Roth, and the team started to believe. Each player started to dig deep and contribute.
With less than two minutes left in the 4th quarter, the Rebels orchestrated a 80 yard drive ending with a touchdown giving them their first lead of the game! With under a minute remaining Hinton had good field position after a strong kick return brought them to the Rebels 40 yard line. “DEFENCE” was the chant by the crowd as Hinton's Running Back took a pitch to the outside running with purpose and only one man to beat, grade 12 student Ryder Pellerin. “He stayed low and kept his feet moving,” says Bachinsky. “The rest is history!” The contact caused the Hinton player to fumble the ball and it was recovered by the Rebels!
“I remembered my training and put my heart into the tackle,” Ryder would later say. The Rebels were able to run out the clock completing the amazing comeback winning the game 71-68 and keeping the Chris Johnston Cup in their trophy case. The win also brings the Rebels season to 2-1 and a fifth place ranking provincially.
“It was a game for the ages and one the players and coaches will always remember!” says Bachinsky. “I want to thank all of our fans that stuck with the team. It was an ugly start but an unbelievable finish! Our team showed true resilience with the greatest comeback in Rebels history and the coaching staff could not be more proud!”