WELLS – At the start of the season, coach Brent Schimek wasn’t sure what to expect from the United South Central football team.

Wednesday, October 31, 2001

WELLS – At the start of the season, coach Brent Schimek wasn’t sure what to expect from the United South Central football team. The Rebels returned just five lettermen and had only 10 seniors back from the previous year’s squad that finished 5-4.

&uot;We knew we had good kids,&uot; said Schimek. &uot;We just had to get them thinking on their feet and playing together.&uot;

It’s safe to say they have.

The Rebels reached their first-ever section championship game in football and will host Windom at Wells at 7 p.m. Friday night. The winner gets to host a state quarterfinal game the following Friday.

&uot;It’s great,&uot; said Schimek, who is also the USC athletic director. &uot;Between girls’ tennis going to state, both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams going to state and football in the section finals, it’s exciting. It’s not just football. Everything around here is just clicking right now.&uot;

The Rebels have clicked most of the season, compiling a 9-1 record while losing only to highly regarded Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.

The winner of Friday’s game faces the Section 3 champ, most likely WEM.

Schimek expects a tough game from Windom, which he feels is better than its 6-4 record.

&uot;They play in a tough conference against bigger schools,&uot; said Schimek. &uot;They’re going to be tough.&uot;

The Rebels figure to be healthy. Their only injured starter, Dusty Niebuhr, will return after missing three games with an ankle sprain.

Schimek admitted the expectations at the start of the season did not include an appearance in the section title game, but those expectations have risen throughout the year.

&uot;After we got beat by Waterville in the third game of the season and knew we probably couldn’t win the conference, we just sort of set that as our goal, to get to the section finals,&uot; said Schimek. &uot;We knew if we could do that, we could get another shot at Waterville. It’s great to be where we wanted to be.&uot;