Rain? What rain?

Wet field? Hey, no big deal.

Playingwith that attitude, the Douglas Freeman Rebels disPatched visiting James River13-0 last night at William E. Long Stadium in the season opener for both teams.

"You have to be mentally tough," said Rebels quarterback Carter Slough.

"You can always look for excuses. We had wet conditions, but they had wet conditions too.

"We just sucked it up and played a good game."

Despite the steady rain that fell throughout the first half, the Rebels came out throwing.

"Coach (Bob Brinkley) told us that they'd expect us to run theball a lot, so we decided to spread things out and throw and hope good things would happen," said Slough, a 6-2, 180-pound senior.

"We threw a lot of things at them, a lot of curve balls. We wanted to surprise them a little bit."

The Rebels' defense forced two quick first-quarter turnovers.

After Kirby Bush recovered the first at the James River 36, Slough wentdeep to Monty Smalley for a first down at the 2.

The Rapids hunkered down and stopped Freeman four times inside the red zone, but on their first play after taking possession at the 3, a bobbled snap their second fumble bounced into the grasp of Mason Slaughter in the end zone.

"I was just in the right place at the right time," saidSlaughter, a 5-7,155-pound senior outside linebacker.

"First touchdown since rec league. A dream come true."

Up 7-0 after Slough's point-after, the Rebels controlled the action the rest of the way with good play selection that kept the ball in their hands for 53 plays resulting in 73 soggy yards on the ground, 135 through the air, and 10 firstdowns.

"Our game plan was to mix things up," said Smalley, who caught 7 passes for 126 yards.

"That's why we run the no-huddle, to see what the defense is giving us and react to what they show.

"We had to block the wet field out and come out here, have a good time, and get the victory."

James River ran only 36 offensive plays, and the Rebels' 4-4 defense allowed just 2 first downs, 46 yards rushing, and 49 yards passing, the last 43 of which came on a late Cole Ransom-to-Blake Bayard connection after the Rebels had gone up 13-0 on Alvin Butler's 4-yard TD run 4:34 from the end.

"We knew coming in that James River was a dive-option team," Said linebacker Doug Fraser,who had 9 tackles. "We had our defense aligned so we would shut that down, and it worked beautifully."

James River ------------------------- 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Douglas Freeman ------------------------- ..7 0 0 6 -- 13

DF Slaughter fumble recovery in end zone (Slough kick)

DF Butler 4 run (pass failed)

RUSHING
James River Joshua Wells 8 carries, 17yards, Brooks 7-13,Ransom 6-10,Jesse Wells 4-6, Brown 1-0.

Douglas Freeman Slough 13-42, Enroughty13-30, Butler 11-18, Jacobson2-4, Smalley 1-minus 7, Brown 1-minus 14.

PASSING
James River Ransom 1 completion, 6 attempts, 0 interceptions,43 yards.Joshua Wells 1-4-0-6

Douglas Freeman Slough 6-19-0-111. Jacobson 2-2-0-24.Mauck 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING
James River Bayard 1 reception, 43 yards, Ransom 1-6.

Douglas Freeman Smalley 7-126, Mauck 1-9.