Team president Roger Wade lost his hair, but that was the only thing the Rebels lost at Bear Mountain Stadium yesterday. Wade shaved his bleached-blond locks to raise more than $12,500 for Cops for Cancer, while the Rebels hacked down the Chilliwack Huskers 70-13.

“It feels weird,” Wade said, rubbing his hand over the stubble, but the money destined to help sick kids, along with a morale-boosting end to the Rebels’ three-game losing streak, made it all worthwhile. “We needed that win.”

Running back Sam Adu scored four touchdowns and rushed for 239 yards as the Rebels roundly outplayed the visitors. With the victory, the Rebels improved their B.C. Football Conference record to 3-3, while the woes continued for the Huskers, winless at 0-6.

“We fed Sam the rock. He was a primary force,” said Rebels quarterback Nick Cobb, who had his best game to date. Gaining confidence as the game progressed, the 18-year-old completed 12 of 24 through the air, passing for 304 yards and three touchdowns and also ran one in.

“The way we prepared this week, we focused on going back to basics. We focused on what we do well, which is the run and play-action pass.”

A 53-yard run by Adu set up the first Victoria points — a field goal by Quinn Van Gylswyk — just over four minutes into the game, and they never stopped rolling. The Rebels’ first touchdown drive, which was finished off by Adu, began with a blocked punt by defensive back Mike Barry, who led an inspired effort by the DBs.

Opposition quarterbacks have found hole after hole in the defensive backfield this season, but the coverage was much improved yesterday.

“We’ve been working like crazy with those kids,” Rebels coach John Cardilicchia said. “We’ve never worked so hard on one faction of our game, and it’s starting to pay off.”

The Rebels were up 10-0 by the end of the first quarter and added another 35 points before halftime. Cobb scored, then Adu zig-zagged 51 yards through the Chilliwack defence for another touchdown. Adu added six more points after wide-receiver Kyle Pich made an amazing one-handed grab to bring the ball down on the Huskers’ six yard line.

Pich, easily recognizable by his bright yellow shoes, and Dallas Holyk both caught TD passes to push the score to 45-0 by the break.

For Chilliwack, nobody had any answers, except for running back and special-teams player Ben Skerrett. Every time Skerrett got his hands on the ball he made something happen. Unfortunately for the Huskers, they couldn’t keep it going.

“He’s an amazing football player,” Chilliwack coach Luke Acheson said of Skerrett. “He leaves his heart and soul on the field every day.”

Acheson was philosophical after the game, trying to pick out the positives for his young team. The Huskers have 45 new players this season, and most of them are in their first year.

“In games like this, you don’t focus on the 70,” he said. “We dwell on mistakes they can fix.

“They got a lesson in football today.”

Among the Rebels’ highlight-reel scoring plays were a 62-yard touchdown scamper by Adu, and a 71-yard pass-and-run touchdown by receiver Travis Corazza, both in the third quarter. After the Huskers gave up a safety, the Rebels took a 60-0 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the final 15 minutes, Chilliwack got on the board, with touchdowns by Skerrett and receiver Jeff Wandzura, while running back Jesse Fitch found the end zone for Victoria. Van Gylswyk, who also had eight converts, finished off the Victoria scoring with a 44-yard field goal.

“This was great for our confidence,” Cardilicchia said. “We have to keep putting the next foot forward.”

“A lot of people had written us off, but we haven’t written ourselves off.”

All teams have a bye week for the Labour Day weekend. The Rebels’ next game is in Nanaimo, where they play the Vancouver Island Raiders on Sept. 11.

sepp@tc.canwest.com

The Victoria Rebels took some positives out of yesterday's B.C. Football Conference game in South Surrey, but the score wasn't one of them. Buoyed by a big-play offence, the Rams outdistanced the Rebels 42-34 in an entertaining match, especially for South Surrey fans.

"We just gave up a whole bunch of big plays," Victoria president Roger Wade said. "They didn't have a touchdown that was less that 20 yards."

The Rebels were hoping to turn the tables on the Rams, after losing to them 35-17 last weekend at Bear Mountain Stadium. The difference was that South Surrey quarterback Nathaniel White was able to find some big holes in the Rebels defence, which was missing all-star defensive end Jake Farley.

The final game stats weren't available, but Wade said all the Rams touchdowns were airborne, with at least two of them to Nick Downey, the BCFC special teams player of the week.

The good news was Downey, who racked up 258 yards in kick and punt returns in last week's game, wasn't able to repeat those numbers. Rebels kicker and punter Quinn Van Gylswyk made sure of that, keeping the ball out of Downey's clutches.

"Quinn had an unbelievable game," Wade said. "Downey had nothing on kick returns."

Van Gylswyk also was successful on an onside kick to open the second half. The Rebels were down 24-10 at that point, but quarterback Nick Cobb marched the team right down for a major.

In all, Cobb had a solid outing, scoring two touchdowns for the Rebels. Receiver Vincenzo Cannata also had a TD, as did running back Sam Adu, who rushed for 194 yards last week, and racked up more than 100 yards yesterday.

Another bright spot for Victoria was the team discipline, which had been a hot topic at practice last week. Wade figured the Rebels didn't take more than five or six penalties in the game, and the attitude on the bench stayed positive throughout.

"Nobody gave up," Wade said.

The Rebels are back in action next Sunday, when they play host to the Vancouver Island Raiders at Bear Mountain Stadium, kicking off at 1 p.m.

sepp@tc.canwest.com