Resilient Rebels blank Warriors in playoff opener

FAIRBANK - The fact that the Gladbrook-Reinbeck football team has won the last two Class A state titles doesn’t diminish senior quarterback Hunter Lott’s desire to bring home another one at all.
 
“It makes you want it more,” he said. “I’ve devoted so much of my life to football, and just working in the offseason and working during the season. I don’t have much time left, so I’m going to give it my all.”
 
Facing previously undefeated, fourth-ranked Wapsie Valley on the road and temperatures in the low 30s, the seventh-ranked Rebels remained unfazed and walked off the field victorious with a 14-0 triumph in the opening round of the playoffs on Friday night. G-R (9-1, 6-1) shut down two key Warrior drives and came through with just enough offense to get the job done. In the fourth quarter, they got a little help from an “unsung hero,” as Coach John Olson called him—senior Seth Gretillat picked up a Paul Rundquist fumble with about two minutes to play and scampered 57 yards to seal the deal.
 
“Get this guy’s name in the paper… he played defensive tackle, he played nose guard, he played defensive end, he plays fullback, he plays tight end, he plays outside linebacker,” Olson said. “He doesn’t get 100 yards receiving all the time, but this guy’s a big part of what we do on offense and defense.”
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G-R will have to take down another undefeated foe on the road this Friday if it hopes to return to the dome this fall: ninth-ranked St. Ansgar, whom the Rebels met in the state semifinals last year.
The full story is in the Nov. 2 Grundy Register. To subscribe, call (319) 824-6958 or click here. 
 

Slideshow: G-R vs. Wapsie Valley football (View photos as thumbnails)