The Zion Chapel Rebels fought hard Friday night in Barbour County but in the end the offense struggled and the Rebels fell 15-9.

“Our defense played really well,” said Rebels head coach Bubba Nall. “Our offense stuttered at times to say the least. We didn’t have any consistency on offense.”

The defense got the Rebels on the board Friday night when they forced a Jaguars safety. It wasn’t until late in the ball game when the Rebels scored their first touchdown when Ashton Paquin ran the ball in from five yards out.

“With about three minutes left to go in the game we scored,” Nall said. “I was proud that we had enough pride to move the ball and score. We left the game and I think we felt better knowing that if we don’t throw the ball on the ground and we are not so inconsistent than we could have given ourselves a better chance to win and that is stuff we can fix.”

The Rebels entered the season knowing they had a lot to improve on to take the next step as a program and Friday night’s game was part of the process.

“We have a lot of things that we need to get better at and we knew that,” Nall said. “We are going to come back Monday and get to work.”

The Rebels will officially begin the season next Friday night when they welcome in Houston Academy at 7 p.m.