Pineville seeks to unlock winning ways as homecoming brings undefeated Marksville to town

by Marshall Loeffler

September 30, 2026

ALEXANDRIA – Four games into the season, Pineville is still searching for its first win, having seen their season unfold in progressively tighter fashion. After being outdone by Opelousas in the opener, Pineville competed early in its second game with Tioga before the Indians pulled away. In the third game, the Rebels held a late lead against Sulphur before late mistakes allowed that game to slip away. Then came last week, which may have been the toughest one yet. Pineville led Leesville 24-7 in the second half, only to see the game flip in the final three minutes.

For senior Kelmarion Phillips, the frustration of coming so close has been difficult to shake. “It is very, very frustrating knowing that, you know, we are this close,” Phillips said. “We are this close from getting over the hump.”

The numbers, Phillips said, show a Pineville offense that has been moving the ball more and more. This week’s film study with head coach Justin Charles showed production from multiple players, including a deep group of Rebels’ running backs and receivers.

“Both of our running backs are averaging over 5 yards per carry,” Phillips said. “And three or four of our receivers average 15 yards per catch or more. “So we are doing really, really good,” he continued. “With the offense moving the ball, stats show it, but we just got to get over the hump of actually trying to finish the game off.”

That has become the emphasis as Pineville prepares for another challenge: undefeated Marksville coming to town during homecoming week. When asked, Phillips described the task facing the Rebels as finding the final pieces.

“Man, just try to finish the final puzzles,” he said. “We literally have a platter of puzzles. We’re connecting them together, and we only missed one or two pieces. We’re trying to find them right now.” Phillips said that Pineville has spent the week trying to find those pieces in practice. “We just got to figure out pieces, final pieces and connect them together,” Phillips said. “And we’ve been doing that for practice all week. So we’re going to be good.”

For Phillips, much like Coach Charles has mentioned, one of those pieces is finishing games.

“Fourth quarter and two minute situations, and we don’t have all season, so we want it to be real soon,” he said when asked what Pineville needs to find. “We just got to do that. I mean, in the fourth quarter, we just got to know, we can’t let off the gas pedal, because anything can happen.” The 24-7 lead against Leesville remains a clear reminder.

“We were up 17 points in the second half, and everything was good,” Phillips said. “So it was just thinking about that. We just can’t give up on those things.” The Rebels have worked on finishing their final plays of games and their two-minute offense, Phillips said. “We have to continue to press the gas,” he said. “So we’ve been really just working on just finishing out our last few plays for the fourth quarter and working on our two-minute drill.”

That work comes against a Marksville team entering the matchup at 4-0. Jyran Pearson, another Pineville senior, said his approach is straightforward when it comes to turning the tide of this season.

“I’m just ready to play again, show what we’ve been working on,” Pearson said. “It’s another game, another Friday to show out.” When asked about what he sees from his fellow upperclassmen to find the extra push that the Rebels need, he consistently mentions discipline and execution throughout the Rebels’ recent close games fueling how they need to approach the rest of  them. 

“Stay disciplined in doing our jobs,” he said. “For me, I just have to keep doing what I’m doing, execute my assignment, and work with guys during the week. When it’s game time, it gets down to one or two things that you can control, so I hope I’m doing my job and everyone else is doing theirs, but that discipline has to start early in the week.”

“There’s definitely some form of brotherhood throughout the team, on offense and defense,” Pearson said. “So that’s pretty good.”

Phillips has also seen the offense become less dependent on any one player this season. “It ain’t just all about me,” he said. “Everything that’s going on, as we saw with the stats, it’s not just me doing everything by myself.” The Rebels have used multiple quarterbacks and shared the ball among several players. Phillips said that has been rewarding after having to carry more of the load last season.

“Our offensive coordinator, he does a really, really good job knowing who we’re going against and what things that we can do to, you know, try to improve,” Phillips said. “And we just try to share the ball around. Last year it was tough because after Aiden Tate got hurt, I was really one of the only ones with experience. So now that I know I have help, it’s just rewarding. It kind of released some of the slack off of me. So it’s been fun.”

That shared approach has extended to the quarterback position, where Carter Smith and Caleb Coleman have brought different strengths. “We’re just trying to really find the identity of who we really want to start for that particular week,” Phillips said. “But we don’t really have a number one QB or anything like that. It’s just trying to find out who we have for that particular week.”

Phillips also knows that defenses have paid attention to him. “In the Leesville game last week, I didn’t really get a lot of touches,” Phillips said. “But when I did get an opportunity, I ended up scoring a touchdown. So, when I get those little opportunities, man, I just have to take it.” Pearson said Phillips has been an important presence throughout their time together. “He’s been a good teammate,” Pearson said. “He lifts you up when he sees you need it and really just helps you out anytime you need help, for real.”

Phillips thinks that ultimately, the players have to make that final effort. “Coach Charles said after last week that the loss was on him, but we have a great coaching staff, all of them,” said Phillips. “It’s on us to finish these games, we are in position to play with these teams, we got put in positions to put games away, we just have to do our part to finish.”