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Newest Rebel Asare a 'little ball of hate'

GAME DAY: KAMLOOPS AT WESTSHORE, 4 P.M

Google Mike Asare and football and you'll find a five-minute and 19-second YouTube clip of the speedy defensive back closing in on would-be receivers and ball carriers.

The five-foot-eight, 167-pound defensive back is hoping to create an entirely new highlight package as one of the newest members of the Westshore Rebels' secondary.

He started off just fine with four tackles in last weekend's 46-8 win in Chilliwack after just two days of practice since arriving from his native Toronto.

He'll be back in the lineup today when the 1-1 Rebels entertain the 1-1 Kamloops Broncos at Bear Mountain Stadium at 4 p.m.

"The kid is a little ball of hate," Rebels' head coach John Cardilicchia said with a chuckle. "He's a Christian kid, who reads his Bible, then he comes out and he's absolutely nasty."

Word is the 21-year-old can run.

"That's what I hear," Asare said with a laugh of his 4.6-second 40-yard time that his YouTube clip proclaims he runs.

"I'm just trying to get back into things," said Asare, who was at Bishop's University, but lasted only two seasons and then ended up with the Brampton Bears of the Ontario Football Conference in 2011.

"I got out here late, but I'm back and ready to go. I just want to work hard with the boys."

So how did the Rebels find Asare?

"He found us, actually," said Cardilicchia. "He put in an email to me, looking for a change. He had played in Brampton, so I asked him for game film.

We liked what we saw at spring camp and here he is."

Arriving late, Asare is still adjusting to the surroundings and getting acclimatized to the Island.

"He looked sharp," Cardilicchia said of last week's effort where he played strong side defensive back. "For a kid who hadn't practised with us for a long time, you could see he's an athlete.

"His hat [helmet] is always around the ball. Every play he's showing up in there, either on the bottom of the pile or diving on top of it. He likes contact and he's a good little football player."

Once he contacted the Rebels, Asare was sold on heading west.

"I was talking to Coach C and he sounded real determined," said Asare. "He really wants to win a championship. He sounded hungry and I got to talk to the defensive coordinator [Scott Mennie] and I loved his mentality.

"I love how he loves to bring pressure. That's all me. All that intensity they bring, being family oriented. I love all of it."

He'll add to the Rebels' defence while the team's offence got on a roll last week.

Greg Morris ran for 140-plus yards (including a TD), quarterback Jesse Herman threw for three touchdowns in the first half on just six completions; Eric Eggleston hauled in three TD catches, one each from Herman, backup Mark Black and thirdstringer Mike Dumesnil, who was 4-for-4 for 106 yards in his appearance.

"Smoothest receiver in the league, right now," Cardilicchia said of Eggleston. "He's a compete receiver - very, very smooth. And Dumesnil, he keeps impressing us. He has a great awareness of the game."

Kicker Quinn Van Gylswyk was also named special teams player of the week with four punts for 190 yards, including a 72-yarder; eight kickoffs for a total of 467 yards; recorded a 15-yard field goal and was six for six in converts.

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