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ADAMS — The Rebels ran into a ground game they couldn’t stop as they lost to Houston 36-6 on senior night in Adams Friday night.

Houston (4-3 overall) piled up 247 yards on the ground, while holding Southland to just 73 rushing yards. Houston’s bruising halfback Aden Kulas ran for a pair of scores as Southland (4-4 overall) had trouble getting into the backfield.

“It was tough sledding all night,” Southland head coach JJ Galle said. “They’ve got a bunch of big dudes up front and we tried to counter it with different fronts, but kudos to them, they got what they got and they stuck with it.”

The Rebels were in the game in the first half, but a couple of missed opportunities proved costly. The Rebels had a drive deep in Houston territory when Sam Boe was stopped on a zero yard run on fourth and one and the Rebels couldn’t hang on to an interception right before Houston’s Zachary Olson ran for a three-yard TD with 20 seconds left in the half to make it 22-0 at halftime.

Houston recovered an onside kick to start the second half and it took a 30-0 lead on a one-yard plunge by Kulas.

Since it played in zero week, the Rebels now have a bye week before they begin their playoff push. It will be a tough run as Southland has lost playmakers Tyson Stevens and Jack Bruggeman for the season with injuries.

“We’ve kind of got to go back to the drawing board if we see (Houston) again,” Galle said. “It’s huge to have the bye week before the playoffs. We’ll get a couple of more practices in and that’s really big this time of year.”

SCORING SUMMARY

Houston 8  14  14  0  –  36

Southland 0   0    0   6  –  6

First quarter

(H) Aden Kulas 1 run (Lee Klunder run) (12 plays, 56 yards) 7:03

Second quarter

(H) Axel Vix 15 pass from Morgan Rohweder (run failed) (13 plays, 75 yards) 5:27

(H) Zachary Olson 3 run (Z. Olson run) (10 plays, 81 yards) :20

Third quarter

(H) Kulas 1 run (Z. Olson run) (10 plays, 45 yards) 7:31

(H) Austin Groth 16 run (pass failed) (8 plays, 47 yards) 2:36

Fourth quarter

(S) Austin Swenson 1 run (pass failed) (8 plays, 78 yards) (pass failed) 3:54

SOUTHLAND STATS

Rushing: Austin Swenson, 12-for-49, TD; Noah Bauer, 4-for-25; Sam Boe, 0-for-1; Royce Jax, 1-for-(-1)

Passing: Noah Bauer, 8-for-23, 131, INT

Receiving: Kaleb Yunker, 2-for-54; Sam Boe, 3-for-32; Andrew Timm, 1-for-23; Landon Chillman, 1-for-10