ADAMS — When it was all said and done, the Rebels were just too fast for the Knights Tuesday night.

Southland came out sprinting and didn’t stop in a 41-10 win over Kingsland (4-4 overall) in the regular season finale for both teams in Adams.

The Rebels (7-1 overall) scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and quarterback Sam Noterman hooked up with Alan May for three touchdowns, including a 44-yard bomb down the right sideline to make it 14-7 with 9:38 left in the second quarter.

“If we came to play, I didn’t think they could match our speed,” Southland head coach Shawn Kennedy said. “By the time we got going, their defensive backs were so skeptical of where to play on us because of our speed and that’s what I wanted.”

The Rebels defense got off to a rough start as Kingsland scored on its second possession to take a 7-6 lead and the Knights drove to the Southland 20-yard line on their opening possession, when Alan May picked off a pass in the end zone on third and 10.

But then, the Rebels forced Kingsland three-and-out on its next three possessions as they held down the rushing attack of Joe Strike, the Knights’ bruising quarterback. Strike was limited to just 46 yards on the ground.

“Their offense scares me,” Kennedy said. “For as big as he is, he’s got the quickest feet I’ve seen for a big guy. You can’t arm tackle him and we had to gang tackle.”

Noterman was sharp for Southland as he completed 10 of his 11 passes for 169 yards. He hooked up with Alan May on a variety of bubble screens and also had the big 44-yard strike to May, who put in a lot of time at practice with Noterman this past week.

“The last couple of weeks we weren’t clicking but now we’re back on track,” Noterman said. “I feel pretty good about our offense, we’ve got a lot of weapons.”

On the ground, the Rebels kept the Kingsland defense off-balanced as Ben Wolterman and Henry Mullenbach took on the bruising runs up the middle, and Jeff Schlichter, who scored on a 15-yard sweep to make it 21-7, took advantage of the outside with his speed.

“We came out ready to play and it’s as close to a complete game as we can play,” Noterman said. “But penalties (8-for-80 yards) hurt us.”

Kennedy was pleased with how his team responded after losing their first game of the season last week to No. 1 ranked Caledonia, which is the defending Class ‘A’ state champion.

“The kids had a chip on their shoulder. We didn’t play very well against Caledonia, although they’re a great team,” Kennedy said. “This was a big test after a big loss. We expected to put forty points on the board and that’s not arrogance, that’s our offense.”

Southland, which is ranked No. 7 in Class ‘AA’, will open the Section 2AA playoffs next week Tuesday at 7 p.m. They will likely be at home in the first round, but the seedings won’t be set until later this week.

STATS

Southland stats: Rushing: Jeff Schlichter, 3-for-42, TD; Henry Mullenbach, 7-for-35, 2 TD; Ben Wolterman, 7-for-34; Mike Churchill, 2-for-21; Sam Noterman, 5-for-17; Nick Schmitz, 2-for-10; Tyler Kressin, 4-for-8; David Schotanus, 1-for-4; Alex Pitzen, 1-for-2; Drew Loecher, 1-for-(-2); Decker Bendsten, 2-for-(-3); Chris May, 2-for-(-4); Passing: Noterman, 10-for-11, 169, 3 TD, INT; Chris May, 1-for-1, 28; Receiving: Alan May, 7-for-142, 3 TD; Chris May, 3-for-48; Wolterman, 1-for-7; Interceptions: Alan May Sacks: Trevor Emanuel (1.5); David Schotanus (1.5); Penalties: 8-for-80

Kingsland stats: Rushing: Cory Mlenar, 14-for-116; Joe Strike, 18-for-46, TD; Justin Buccholtz, 2-for-8; Mitchell Tart, 4-for-5; Travis Freiheit, 2-for-4; Anthony Landwehr, 2-for-(-1); Passing: Strike, 5-for-13, 79, INT; Landwehr, 0-for-1; Receiving: Tyler Himle, 2-for-50; Mlenar, 2-for-19; Landwehr, 1-for-10; Interceptions: Strike; Penalties: 5-for-38

SCORING SUMMARY

Kingsland 0 7 0 3 — 10

Southland 6 20 7 7 — 41

First quarter

(S) 4:37 Mullenbach 4 run (William Ramirez kick blocked) (12 plays, 80 yards)

Second quarter

(K) 11:55 Strike 3 run (Strike kick) (12 plays, 75 yards)

(S) 9:38 Alan May 44 catch from Noterman (Mullenbach run) (5 plays, 77 yards)

(S) 6:17 Schlichter 15 run (Ramirez kick) (5 plays, 47 yards)

(S) 1:25 Mullenbach 3 run (Ramirez kick blocked) (8 plays, 41 yards)

Third quarter

(S) 9:47 Alan May 7 catch from Noterman (Ramirez kick) (5 plays, 44 yards)

Fourth quarter

(S) 11:15 Alan May 16 pass from Noterman (Ramirez kick) (6 plays, 42 yards)

(K) :17.9 Strike 22 field goal (6 plays, 58 yards)