BRIDGER — The beginning of the football season could not have started worse for the Custer-Hysham-Melstone rebels.
Not only did they get thumped by Strawn, Texas, in the season opener, they also lost starting quarterback Layne Duncan to a torn ACL. In stepped star wideout Nolan Kamerman to fill the void.
"We played all summer with Layne at quarterback. We played all preseason with Layne at quarterback, and now we've got three days to tell Nolan, 'You're our quarterback now,'" Rebels head coach Brad Hoffman said.
"I've always been a receiver, pretty much. I was a running back for a while," said Kamerman. "When I first started I could barely lead anybody and throw it accurately to them. All the reps we've done in practice and games have prepared me, and now I'm pretty comfortable there."
It's a bit of a double-edged sword for the Rebels, though. Kamerman is an elite receiver in the 6-Man ranks, and it takes away a weapon from what is now his arsenal.
"We came into the season expecting to pass the ball every play, be a fast spread team and never run the ball," Kamerman said. "Now we slow everything down and go to the run game a lot, which we haven't really done in the last couple years."
Hoffman has figured it out pretty well on the fly, as the Rebels just knocked off a top-10 team in Absarokee. It's been a brutal schedule so far, having played Strawn, as well as Montana playoff teams like Bridger and Savage.
"We had one senior playing (against Bridger). Our other senior broke his collarbone, so we lost two of our senior leaders," Hoffman said. "We're a young team playing juniors and sophomores, and they stepped up and did not quit. That's the main thing. These kids just don't quit."
Kamerman is new at the quarterback position, but he sure is lethal with the ball in his hands and will be a critical part of the Rebels' postseason hopes.
