By Justin Averette and Stephen Dawkins

THORSBY – The football game didn’t start out as planned for Thorsby, but the Rebels persevered and snapped a 17-game losing streak with a 28-6 win over Shades Mountain Christian on Oct. 9 to conclude homecoming week.

“It’s like, not a monkey, but a gorilla off our back,” first-year coach Billy Jackson said.

Jackson said earlier in the week that homecoming can potentially provide extra distractions for a team, and the Rebels started off slow.

The game was delayed about an hour and a half by lightning, and then Thorsby lost a fumble early on a sloppy field and allowed Shades Mountain to take a 6-0 lead on an 11-yard touchdown run by Bradley Kidd.

The Rebels would answer quickly, though. Dillian Simmons and Kalup Nunn scored on running plays, and quarterback Andrew Farris added another touchdown with a 10-yard run with 1:07 to go in the first half.

The last score of the game was a pass from Farris to Dillian Simmons.

“We told the kids all year, ‘If you’ll stay focused and work, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel that’s not a train,’” Jackson said. “They battled and kept their heads up and continued to play.”

The Rebels (1-6, 1-4 Class 2A, Region 4) might be a playoff long shot, but their season could quickly become a success if a suddenly confident team could defeat county rival Isabella (1-6, 0-5) on Friday.

“Now, you can just let loose and play,” Jackson said. “I think they were tense about getting that first win. Now, you feel like you’re playing with the house’s money.”