NATCHEZ — In David King’s eyes, Friday’s game played out similar to his team’s season opener at Cathedral High School.

The Adams County Christian School head coach watched his team get down 26-7 after one quarter, and despite a late comeback effort, the Rebels fell short against Bowling Green 42-28 Friday night.

“I think we just got down and got a little shell-shocked, just like the Cathedral game,” King said, referring to his team’s 43-13 loss Aug. 17. “We’re not at a stage in our program where we can overcome that.”

ACCS trailed only 34-28 around the three-minute mark in the fourth quarter, but a touchdown run from approximately 34 yards out put the game out of reach for the Rebels.

After staring 26-0 in the face, ACCS finally got on the board with 32 seconds left in the first quarter when Lester Wells ran it in from 20 yards out.

ACCS held Bowling Green scoreless in the second quarter and made it 26-14 when Wells returned a fumble recovery 40 yards for a touchdown.

Bowling Green scored eight points in both the third and fourth quarters to pull away from ACCS. The Rebels scored in the third on a 40-yard pass from Brandon Ross to Trey Fleming with 4:51 left.

The final touchdown for ACCS came on a 24-yard run by Wells with 6:08 left in the third quarter.

The Rebels were just six of 21 in passing for 152 yards. Ross went 4-for-12 with 72 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, while Fleming was 1-for-8 with 30 yards. Wade Simpson completed a 20-yard pass on a fake punt.

Only catching six total passes was a sticking point for King, who said the mistakes kept his team from overcoming the early deficit.

“We couldn’t stop them and we couldn’t catch a pass,” King said. “We just got whipped, and there’s nothing else you can say about it. I think we made a big mistake patting ourselves on the back thinking we were pretty good.”

And King said the game would serve as an example as to why it’s not good to get overconfident despite a 3-1 start to the season.

“We fell apart in that first quarter,” King said. “We learned a valuable lesson — we have to be ready to play when the whistle blows (at the start).

“We started trying to play when it was too late. That’s just a sign of a team that’s not used to winning. We have to learn how to win before we win a good, close game.”

ACCS (3-2) will play at Trinity next Friday.