The Southland football team began its season Friday as a new member of the Three Rivers Conference. However, the result wasn't what the team was hoping for, as they were defeated 22-8 to visiting Lewiston-Altura.

The Rebels knew they would have to confront and overcome unfamiliar teams with unique strengths and weaknesses, but it was their own costly mistakes and lack of depth that they seemed to have trouble with.

The Rebels went head to head with the Cardinals and held them scoreless in the first quarter. Southland only allowed a short two-yard touchdown run by running back Titan Haag in the second to make it a 6-0 half-time deficit.

"We started out strong, but the players began to wear down as the game progressed," said Rebel head coach Dick Strand.

The Cardinals scored again in the third quarter on a 6-yard run by quarterback Travis Spencer. After a successful two-point conversion, the Cardinals were up 14-0. Haag ran another 2-yard run for a touchdown and Spencer ran the ball across the goal line for the extra points to make it 22-0.

Southland managed to sustain a drive with a little over six minutes left in the game, and capped it off with a 21-yard pass play from quarterback Adam Nagele to Steve Snyder that closed the gap to 22-6. The two-point conversion brought the score to 22-8. A failed onside kick sealed the Rebels' fate and that turned out to be the final score.

The Rebels mustered only 253 total yards that were pretty evenly divided between the running and passing attack. The Cardinals gained 340 yards, only 20 of which were from passing.

Adam Nagele completed his first seven out of 10 passes and was only 4-for -16 after that. The game's leading rushers ended up being the quarterbacks. Nagele carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards, while Cardinal quarterback Travis Spencer rushed for 78 yards on 12 carries.

Strand summarized the game, saying that "we fumbled and dropped the ball the ball on key drives that might have led to points. We were also out-sized by the other team, so when the game went on, we wore down, and our play on the field suffered because of it. We used a lot of our sophomores tonight."

Southland will be away from home next Friday, when they match up against Wabasha-Kellogg.