It’s that wonderful time of year, when the leaves are changing, the air is crisp and playoff football is being played. Chambers Academy opened their postseason schedule against Clark Prep on Thursday night.

Chambers is the favorite to win the state title, and it showed on Friday. They beat the Gators 53-13.

The Defense shut the gators out in the first quarter, not allowing a single first down.

It only took two plays for the Rebels to get on the board. Luke Tarver came out of the gate with two long runs for a quick touchdown. After Jacob Norgard got the extra point the Chambers sideline was sufficiently fired up.

On the following possession, Tarver also got the clutch fourth down tackle of Clark’s running back to give the offense the ball back.

Chambers, again, needed only two plays for a second touchdown. A quarterback keeper by Landon Hand followed by a Tarver two pointer but then up 16-0 with 6:45 to go in the quarter.

While the defense still shut out Clark, they did give up some easy penalties.

Tarver and Norgard collaborated for the next touchdown for a pair of runs, stretching the lead to three touchdowns at the end of the quarter.

The opening of the second quarter seemed to much of the same when Hand threw a dime downfield to Cameron Gooden who took it the rest of the way. However, the ball was called back for illegal formation.

No matter, Tarver soon took it to the house for his third touchdown of the night.

A glimmer of hope then came for Clark Prep. The Gators running back found a hole and a wide open field in front of him to cut the lead to 28-6. Special teams did save a point with a blocked kick.

Perhaps the play of the game came during Chambers’ next possession. Hand kept it, running toward his sideline he found a swap full of gators. He changes course, dodging tackles and takes it down the opposite sideline to the endzone.

The defense once again kept Clark sedentary. Junior Gabe Bridges came up with a big sack to give his team the ball back.

Norgard appreciated Bridges gesture. He took the ball 50 yards deep into Gator territory. TJ Daniel finished the job to put Chambers up 40-6 with less than five minutes left in the half. Penalties proved an issue for the offense as well resulting in a missed kick.

The half ended how it started, with a bang. A sack and fumble recovery by Chambers closed it out.

The second half was a forgone conclusion as the Rebels’ reserve players got a chance to see some playoff game time. They made the most of it.

The third opened with Jack Nelms getting the ball to the Gator’s 30 yard line then breaking his final defenders to grab more yards. Colin Whatley ran around the outside for a 46-6 lead.

Clark didn’t go quietly. The Rebels punt was returned to put the score at 46-12.

A long run by Hunter Andrews got it into enemy territory. Andrew’s had one man to beat at the twenty. He shook him off and kept running for a touchdown, increasing the gap to forty points.

The special teams got the Gators back, when a muffed punt was recovered by Jesse Barton.

The offense had a chance for another when Freshman Trey Tigner made his way through the Gator secondary for a touchdown. But penalties once again pulled a touchdown back.

Another breaking run by Tigner got it in scoring position. A Cameron Moore rushing touchdown was called back in the final minutes due to illegal procedure. That would be all she wrote for Chambers Academy’s first playoff round.

The Rebels will move on to the semifinals. They will play the winner of the Monroe and Banks Academy game at home on Nov. 14.