Pineville Rebels in search of first winning season since 2006

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) -Darin Moore enters his second year as head coach for the Pineville Rebels with a goal in mind-a winning season.

“I’m really excited to see what these guys can do on Friday nights, especially after a year of growing underneath them,” head coach Darin Moore said.

Last year, the Rebels had a difficult time at quarterback due to injuries-ultimately, having to place former wide-receiver and quarterback, Darnell Bayonne, as QB1.

Now, there’s an abundance of quartebacks looking for the starting position- Dawson Williams (Buckeye transfer), junor Tylen Burch and Nate Dardar.

“Those three guys have been battling every single day trying to see who will be the starter,” Moore said.

As of now, Dardar is gunning for that number one spot, after sitting out two seasons due to a shoulder injury. He’s been working with returning running back, Andrew Frazier, and possible number one target, Cody Riggs.

“I’m ready to get all that anger out,” quarterback Nate Dardar said. “I’ve been itching to get back on the field. Andrew, Cody and I have been going to the field and doing extra work. They’ve worked on their timing stuff, and I’ve worked on my footwork so we can see how we time well together for in game situations,” he added.

Last year, Frazier ran for 780 yards, and caught 18 passes for 246 yards. He’ll share the load with junior Bruce Jackson.

“Me and him [Bruce] in the backfield will be exciting for this season-kind of like Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram,” he added.

Defensively, six total starters return, including All-District safety Jalin Brown. In 2019 he had 61 solo tackles.

“I have to have over 100 this year. We just have to execute more, fill the holes and just not give up as many points per game like we did last year,” safety Jalin Brown said.

The team gave up an average of 400 yards a game, which lead them to a 2-8 overall record. However, this year they are aiming to create a new culture.

“They want to change what Pineville is,” Darin Moore said. “They want to be the first team to have a district win since 2014. I’m really pleased with the way our guys have been going,” he added.

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