The Southland defense pitched a shutout for the second consecutive game and the Rebel passing attack powered the team to a 12-0 victory over Goodhue Friday night in Adams.

Rebel quarterback Adam Nagele had his sights set on the tallest receiver in Tim Schneider, who hauled in seven passes for 101 yards and both Southland touchdowns. Nagele finished with 138 yards passing on 12-of-24 attempts as the running game for neither team could get an advantage.

Goodhue amassed 96 yards on the ground, while Southland was limited to 55. Schneider's touchdown catchers went for 17 and 15 yards, both coming within five minutes of each other in the second quarter.

"It was a very good tough defensive game," said Southland coach Dick Strand. "It was a real head-knocker.

"We played them two years ago and we had all kinds of trouble stopping their smash play. We figured we cannot possibly fill the hole, so we widened out into a 6-2 defense and crashed our linebackers from the sides and we were able to plug up the hole."

Goodhue's limited carries deep into Southland territory were halted by fumbles, and the Rebels treated their hometown fans to their second shutout victory in as many weeks.

"Our defense developed a lot of confidence in what they're doing," Strand said. "We got a lot of improvement from our linebackers, everybody really picked it up. Defensively they had to set the tone and they did that."

Pete Churchill paced the Rebel defense with 11 tackles.

Southland, now 2-1 overall, starts Three Rivers Conference Southern Division play this Friday night against Rushford-Peterson (3-0), a team that ran past Southland last season in Adams. This year the Rebels host R-P for homecoming.

"We'll need to play a great defensive game, they're extremely fast," Strand said. "This'll be a tremendous challenge for our defense."

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at :sports@austindailyherald.com.