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Tallassee's Marciano Smith is wrapped up

Rebels win Battle of Tallapoosa

By Michael Butler

It lived up to the hype. The Reeltown/Tallassee game returned to the football field after 17 years and the 17th meeting was an instant classic. The Rebels prevailed in overtime 27-21 at Tallassee's J. E. "Hot" O'Brien Stadium on Thursday.

Reeltown has won five straight in the series and broke the tie in the series improving to 9-8 overall against their rivals from across the Tallapoosa River.

Johnny Brown gave RHS its first lead in overtime with a 12-yard run on the Rebels' second play of the extra period. The two-point try failed, but the Reeltown defense stopped Tallassee in its OT possession to preserve the win.

"Congratulations to Reeltown. They've got bragging right for the next year," Tallassee head coach Mike Battles said. "Our guys played hard. We had chances but just didn't execute."

Tallassee went ahead 21-13 on a 48-yard Marciano Smith run in the third quarter and held the lead until midway through the final frame, but Reeltown responded with Gabe Bryant's 70-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Haynes. It was their second scoring connection on the night. Sendarico Brooks punched in the two-point conversion to tie it with 6:35 remaining.

Bryant was 6-of-8 passing for 163 yards with two TDs and no interceptions.

Photos by Kyle Thornton

The Rebels' balanced attack included 159 yards on the ground primarily from Brooks who led all ball carriers with 158 yards on 18 carries.

Tallassee's Zavion Carr ran 14 times for 118 yards taking in the Tigers' two first-half touchdowns for a 14-13 lead at the intermission. Smith rushed nine times for 88 yards.

Reeltown was 6-for-11 on third down (54.5%). Tallassee was 2-for-7 (28.6%). The Rebels led in time of possession 28:11 to 19:06.

Tallassee travels to Wetumpka next week to renew another rivalry that has not been played since 2003. Reeltown will host St. James.

The location for the Tigers' game with Wetumpka is still uncertain. The Indians' new facility may not be ready by Friday. If so, preparations have been made to move the matchup to Hohenburg Field.

"We will be alloted 800 tickets - first come, first serve," Battles said. "All of this could change, but it will be digital tickets only."

Those planning to attend should be able to buy online starting Monday morning. Battles said he will pass along the information on the link to purchase as soon as he receives it.

1300 WTLS/106.5 FM will broadcast live at 6 p.m. with the simulcast on the TuneIn app. Live video streaming will be on Tallassee Times TV through YouTube and Spectrum Channel 340.

See more Photos by Kyle Thornton