Beating a team three times in a row is tough. Winning three straight state championships, almost unheard of.

This is exactly what the SKHS football team was attempting to do this season. Not since West Warwick High School won three state titles in a row thirty six years ago.   

Only five teams have ever won three in a row in any football division. Rogers, Portsmouth and Hendricken all won three in a row in Division One, and the Rebels set out this season to do the same.

Unfortunately, The Rebels three year run ended as the team fell 13-12 to Mt. Hope. The Rebels quest for a third straight championship might have fallen short but over the last four years the Rebels have been the most successful team in Division II.

Four years ago the Rebels lost to the Shea Raiders in the semifinals and after that the team won back to back state championships and this year only lost twice, while reaching another semifinal. Over a four year span, the Rebels compiled a Record of  23-5.

 The Rebels started their championship run two years ago when they entered their playoffs at 4-3 and were considered big underdogs.

Coach Anderson the current head coach of the Rebels was an assistant coach for two years and talked about how different that first championship was compared to ending up winning a championship which was much more than anyone expected.

Last year the Rebels had a underdog mentality entering the season but then surprised most people when they only lost one game all season. “Last year we had a few seniors, but we mostly had a bunch of juniors that no one had heard of,” said Anderson.

“We snuck up on everybody which was pretty cool.”

 Unlike two years ago, this year the Rebels were the team that everybody expected to  win and they entered the season with a target on their back.

“We definitely get everybody’s best effort,” said Anderson prior to the Mt. Hope game.

Earlier this year the Rebels stumbled against Cumberland a team that did not even make the playoffs.

“You can sometimes end up going through the motions sometimes in the regular season and you can play some bad games,” said Anderson.

The Rebels entered the playoffs as the Favorite to win.  Even though they could not come up with the third straight championship they did something that few have ever accomplished.

Terry Lynch the schools AD and former University of Rhode Island player and Coach was surprised that the Rebels made it this far.

“Winning three would have been something special but winning two is something that few have done,” Lynch said.