The Rebels are making it work, posting their second blowout in as many weeks with an 88-0 win over Meskwaki on Friday at The Pit in Gladbrook.

G-R improved to 2-1 and hosts Dunkerton for homecoming next week. Meskwaki is 0-3 and back home against Janesville next week.

“It’s still early in the season,” G-R junior Hudson Clark said. “We’ve got guys at places where they may not have played before, but it’s all about what the best fit is for our team. The JV guys and second-stringers are all getting better too, and that just helps us starters in practice and creates an environment where you’re comfortable knowing you’ve got a guy behind you that can take a rep.”

Before the Rebels took a single snap from scrimmage, they led 13-0 on a 67-yard opening kickoff return for Treyvon Herron, followed by a 35-yard punt return from Hudson Clark.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Meskwaki quarterback Kingston Davenport (6) tries to elude Gladbrook-Reinbeck lineman Jace Aneweer (58) during Friday’s 8-Man District 4 football game in Gladbrook.

G-R’s offense was efficient once it got on the field, with seven first-half touchdown drives and no drive lasting longer than two plays.

Drew Eilers, Clark and Herron all had rushing touchdowns that made it 35-0 before the first quarter even ended. Herron reeled in a 62-yard touchdown catch from Eilers at the end of the first quarter, and Drew Stanek started the second quarter with a rushing score, followed by two rushing touchdowns for Trevor Mathern to make it 65-0 Rebels at halftime.

“Without our guys on the front line, we can’t score, so we have to give all the credit to them,” Clark said. “And Trey and I have complete confidence in Drew. He’s a great quarterback, and we believe that he’ll get us the ball so we can do our thing. But we’ll always trust in our front line, they’re busting their butts every day.”

Clark returned another punt for a touchdown after Meskwaki’s first drive of the second half and Stanek and Chad Gutknecht tacked on a touchdown each as the continuous clock rolled on.

G-R finished with 278 yards of offense, and held Meskwaki to 16 total yards of offense — the Warriors were in the negative for yardage until finding some progress in fourth-quarter drives. Meskwaki quarterback Kingston Davenport took a shot at the end zone in the final seconds but it was picked off by Kooper Larsen to end the game.

“We’ve been a 3-2 defense for a long time and we’re changing things up this year for the first time in a long, long time,” G-R head coach John Olson said. “We’ve got personnel that I think we can try to make some mismatches and do some things differently, but we’re still adjusting to that. … We know coaches will scout us hard and if we show them something different defensively they might not be familiar with that. But in 8-man football we also want to make sure our eight best guys are out on the field, so sometimes you may need two d-linemen and three linebackers.

“We’ve got four defensive coaches and four offensive coaches and that’s all they do, so we’re very fortunate to have them. … We’re more dimensional on defense, more diverse than we have been in the past.”

Herron made a splash as a freshman with three special teams and two defensive touchdown returns in addition to his four touchdown catches on offense. As a sophomore, he’s already establishing himself once again as part of a potent 1-2 punch of explosive offensive options for Eilers along with Clark.

“He’s continued to stay in the weight room, so he’s a better athlete, older, maturing,” Clark said. “He’s confident in himself and a great person to be around, a great player.”

G-R defeated Dunkerton 56-0 last year.

“Against Don Bosco [in Week 1] there were some things we didn’t do so hot,” Olson said. “We took a little step last week, another good step tonight but it’ll be a challenge with Dunkerton coming to town.”