SIX NATIONS – It was first against worst Friday night at the ILA when the Six Nations Rebels and the Welland Generals met, and the outcome was predictable. The 10-0 Jr. B Rebels easily downed the 2-8 Generals with a score of 19-4.
After a good start, which gave the visitors a little hope, the Rebels took over by the end of the first period.
“We had a team meeting Thursday night where we told them what we needed from them and they gave us that tonight,” said Coach Derek “Chico” General.
With a record of 10-0, one might think he would be satisfied, but General has not liked some of the things he has been seeing with his team, even in those wins. He points to the 9-7 win over Guelph, which the Rebs should have dominated.
“We haven’t been playing well the last few games,” he said. “We haven’t been moving the ball and moving our feet but we did that tonight. One of the last things I told them was to go on out and have some fun.”
The Rebs looked like they were having fun as they breezed past Welland in what turned out to be a one sided affair.Welland scored first at 2:03 with Brandon Porga finding room behind young Six Nation goaltender Briley Miller, but Layne Smith got that back at 5:10 from Kevin Owen Hill with his first of four goals on an eight-point night.
Mitch Mayers countered at 7:50 to give the Generals a 2-1 lead, but coach Derek General called a time out to settle his young netminder down and regroup the defense. The move worked, as the Rebels looked like a different team after that.
Josh Miller tied the game at 2-2 from Layne Smith and Chayton King with a goal that sparked a wildfire of Six Nations goals and by the end of the period the Rebels led 5-2 after taking full control of the game.
It got worse for the Generals as the game went on, with the Welland goalie needing a week’s vacation to recover the 71-shot barrage he faced. At the other end, Miller was good on 24 of the 28 shots he was called upon to handle.
By the final buzzer, Mitch Green earned two goals and seven assists, Josh Miller contributed two goals and six assists, Travis Longboat and Layne Smith tallied four goals and four assists each. Also scoring for the Rebels were Ricky Smith (3G,2A), Garret Vyse-Square (1G,3A), Chayton King (1G,3A), Danton Miller (1G,2A), and Jerry Staats (1G).
One problem the Rebels are having this year is a shortage of right-handed shooters.
“Some of the guys we have been calling up were late cuts,” said General. “Some of them we would have liked to have kept but we are loaded with left-hand shooters.”
General has noticed that this is not just a problem with the Rebels. If Six Nations’ incredibly deep talent pool has any weakness at all, it is in right-hand shooters from Midget all the way up to the Major Series Chiefs.
“The Arrows and the Rivermen are calling me for righties,” he says.
The Rebels next see action in Hamilton, Thursday, May 23rd where they will attempt to tame the Bengals and add another mark to the wins column.
But General never takes any team for granted.
“There are teams out there that don’t care if they get only one win all year as long as it’s against the Rebels,” he says.
