Melanie Sojourner may have a son at Adams County Christian School, but as a state senator for District 37, her loyalties are to all of Adams County and the surrounding area.

So when Dayne Day suits up on the ACCS junior varsity football squad, mom remembers the most important thing is seeing the community come together.

And that’s just what the community did Friday night, not only when Cathedral High School hosted ACCS, but also when Natchez High hosted Wilkinson County High and Trinity Episcopal hosted Jefferson County High.

“I love this,” Sojourner said at Cathedral Friday. “I’ve got great friends on both sides of this. This is great for these kids. There’s a group of kids getting together later on this evening. It’s great for our community.”

At the ACCS-Cathedral game alone, there were a number of different storylines to follow. David King was coaching his inaugural game as the Rebels’ head man, and he was doing it against a fellow ACCS alumnus in Ron Rushing. Rushing was also an assistant coach at Trinity under King, which makes for an interesting coaching tree to follow.

New starting quarterbacks lined up under center throughout the Miss-Lou. ACCS, Cathedral, NHS and Trinity had new faces leading their offenses.

But the biggest story wasn’t the quarterbacks — though they’re certainly worth following — nor was it King versus Rushing, which neither coach probably cares much about anyway.

The biggest story was, out of the five games played by Miss-Lou teams Friday, three of those games were against other local teams.

Reagan White, president of the Cathedral C Club, said games like the Cathedral-ACCS matchup provide a lot of positive energy for the community.

“Just look at the stands right now, on both sides,” White said, referencing the packed house at D’Evereux Stadium.

“It’s a benefit for our community. Everyone’s together. Yeah, we each want to win the game, but it brings everyone together to compete on the same field, and you don’t have to drive 100 miles to go see a game. It’s right in town.”

In addition to each visiting school saving money in travel costs, the home schools’ earnings at the gate are also worth mentioning. When you have big local games like we did Friday, fans of both teams are hyped up and the results are usually a packed house. I imagine Cathedral, NHS and Trinity are quite happy with the amount of money they made at the gate.

Thankfully, opening night wasn’t the last time this season our local schools will play against one another. NHS will travel to Jefferson County this Friday before returning home against Ferriday High School Aug. 31. ACCS and Trinity are district opponents, and Block, Vidalia and Ferriday high schools are all set to play one another when the Louisiana teams’ seasons begin.

Let’s make sure to get out to these games and support our local teams as the 2012 season gets under way.

 

Michael Kerekes is the sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3632 or michael.kerekes@natchezdemocrat.com.