The Zion Chapel struggled against the Ariton on Friday and lost to the Purple Cats 31-0.

The Rebels (2-5) are trying to rebuild a program in Jack has struggled offensively for much of the year. On Friday, the defense struggled.

“Uncharacteristically we didn’t tackle well defensively tonight,” said Rebels head coach Bubba Nall. “Offensively we only put up 88 yards tonight. We tried the split-back veer; we tried to run the wishbone and the Wing T tonight. We are just trying to find something that get can get us into a rhythm and give us some confidence, but we are struggling.”

The Rebels were in the game at the end of the first half on Friday night, trailing 10-0 as the teams went into the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, Ariton’s run game was too much to handle.

“We had the quarterback for a five yard loss and he shakes off and went for 65 yards,” Nall said. “That is the difference in winning and losing ball games. When your winning and playing with confidence you sack that quarterback. When you’re not winning and you are trying to find a way to win you miss those tackles.”

The Rebels also struggled with turning the ball over on Friday night; the offense fumbled the ball four times and threw one interception.

“They were fumbles when we finally opened holes and we fumbled,” Nall said. “We have to get over that.”

Special teams were a positive on Friday night. Kicker and punter Dawson Hamlin had a career night by having four punts that went over 50 yards.

“He kicked off and kicked it in the back of the end zone.” Nall said. “He had a great night tonight, and he is a big time player for us. He finally kicked the ball we knew he could all year.”

Even with the loss, Nall and the Rebels believe there is a reason to be optimistic.

“We are going to fight,” Nall said. “We are going to work with these kids and we are going to get better. We have Calhoun next week. We should match up with them pretty well. Hopefully we will play better and if we do we will give ourselves a chance. We believe in them.”

The Rebels will hit the road to take on Calhoun next Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.