Being up by 10 points at halftime isn’t a bad thing, but Southland certainly came out in half two looking for a lot more.

The Rebels (4-0 overall, 1-0 Three Rivers South) jumped on Fillmore Central (2-2, 0-1) with 27 points after intermission and won easily Friday night at the Southland Athletic Complex, 49-12.

Rebels head coach Shawn Kennedy said the message to his team at halftime was to eliminate mistakes and put the Falcons away.

“I said, ‘Hey, are we up by (only) 10 because of them or us?’” Kennedy said. “We gave them opportunities.”

And while Southland wasn’t perfect after halftime, with two turnovers of their own, they were able to force a number of Falcon mistakes.

Fillmore Central had three turnovers in the second half, and were also victims of a blocked punt and a safety.

The first two turnovers were particularly deflating — an interception abruptly ended a nice 10-play drive to start the half, and a fumble was scooped up for a quick six later in the quarter.

Fillmore Central head coach Chris Mensink said his team had been plus-seven in turnover margin so far this season but was a far cry from that Friday.

“We can’t give a good team like that opportunities in our territory,” he said after the game.

With the Rebels piling on the points, Fillmore Central was also forced to pass more in the second half, which put a lot of heat on senior quarterback Jayden Wilhelm.

Wilhelm was sacked four times after halftime and pressured on a number of other occasions.

It was all in all a good night for Southland, which played with a lot of energy throughout and did plenty of high-fiving after forcing so many turnovers.

“We are a very close team,” senior lineman Casey Cederstrom said.

Cederstrom also noticed his team’s second half exploits.

“I don’t know why, but we tend to get the feel for the game in the first half,” he said, “and step it up in the second.”

The 250-pound lineman helped establish the Rebels’ ground game, especially when they were looking to milk the clock with a big lead.

Twelve different Southland players had carries, with the team totaling 280 rushing yards on 42 attempts.

Leading the way individually were sophomore Tyler Kressin, who had 64 yards on six carries and a score, and sophomore Ben Wolterman, who tallied 50 yards and three touchdowns on seven carries.

Despite the good performances by those two young players, coach Kennedy said his players of the week were all his seniors, who he said carried the squad.

With the way the Rebels are playing and a 4-0 start to show for it, Kennedy said he is looking forward to more similar performances.

“It’s fun to be out here on Friday nights,” he said.