NATCHEZ — Friday’s game between Adams County Christian and Wilkinson County Christian proved that it’s not necessarily how many times you turn the ball over, but when you turn it over that can be the difference between victory and defeat.

ACCS (3-1) fumbled the ball seven times and lost three of them, but it was WCCA that made a critical mistake late that led to the Rebels 28-21 win in both team’s District 5-AA opener.

With the game tied at 21 in the final five minutes, WCCA running back Matthew McGraw lost a fumble at the Rams’ 39-yard line.

ACCS, which had been stopped on downs just two plays prior, suddenly had new life and took advantage of their opportunity.

The Rebels took just six plays to cover the 39 yards, and Rusty Blackwell finished it off by racing 11-yards up the middle for a touchdown with 2:50 to play.

WCCA (3-1) had one final chance to tie the score in the final two minutes, but backup quarterback Trenton Hall was intercepted by Bryce Murray with 1:42 remaining to seal the Rebel victory.

“Like I said earlier this week, the team that turned the ball over is the team that’s going to lose, and we did right there in the fourth quarter,” WCCA coach Sam Byrd said. “That fumble gave them their points, and they were able to go ahead and seal the victory.”

In addition to the late turnovers, WCCA was hampered by the loss of starting quarterback Todd Gonda, who left the game in the second quarter with a separated shoulder.

“The loss of him was major,” Byrd said. “But I’m proud of the team. They stepped up, but they didn’t step up quite enough.”

ACCS statistically dominated the game, picking up 15 first downs to WCCA’s nine and outgaining the Rams 391-262.

However, the Rebels could never pull away by more than eight points thanks to three lost fumbles and a scrappy WCCA team.

“Every time I thought we had a chance to put the nail in the coffin, Woodville game back and blew the lid off of it,” ACCS coach Paul Hayles said. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and do something about those turnovers.”

When ACCS wasn’t turning the ball over, they were running over the Rams defense with a bruising running game.

All 391 of the Rebels’ yards came on the ground, with Brandon Sanders rushing for 206 of them on 27 carries.

“We’ve had a consistent 100-yard rusher in each of our games,” Hayles said. “We’ve had great (rushing) totals in every game. We’ve been competitive and that’s something we’ve been working so hard at in building this program.”

WCCA opened the scoring with a impressive touchdown drive on their first possession.

The Rams drove 64 yards in nine plays, capping the drive off when Gonda ran in from two yards out just over three minutes into the contest.

The Rams had a chance to put more points on the board following a blocked punt, but the Rebel defense stopped WCCA on fourth down at the 3-yard line.

ACCS wasted no time in scoring its first touchdown, as the Rebels drove 97 yards in just four plays.

A 40-yard run by Bryce Murray set the Rebels up in good field position and Sanders capped off the drive with a 30-yard run that tied the game at seven.

The Rebels took their first lead of the game on their next possession, as Murray capped off a 68-yard drive with a 29-yard gallop around right end on the final play of the first quarter.

It looked as if the Rebels would lead going into halftime, but WCCA running back Tip McKenzie broke loose for a 74-yard touchdown run with 2:49 remaining in the half to tie the score at 13 at the break.

ACCS jumped back on top early in the third quarter, as Sanders once again broke loose for a touchdown, this time from 23 yards out.

Sanders also ran in the two-point conversion to put the Rebels up 21-13.

However, once again WCCA came back to tie the score, as Darius Hunter caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Hill early in the fourth quarter.

Duncan Ashley ran in the two-point conversion to tie the score once again.

ACCS had two good scoring opportunities following WCCA’s score, but Sanders lost a fumble to stop the first drive, and then Sanders was stopped for a loss on fourth and three on the next drive.

It looked like the Rams had the momentum, but McGraw’s fumble set the Rebels up in good field position to drive for the winning score.

ACCS is now 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in district play, and Hayles is tickled to death to be in that position.

“Man, we’re just excited to be where we’re at,” Hayles said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s one point or 100 points, a win is a win. We’ll take anything we can get.”