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Cathedral's Kennedy Williams and Adams County's Cade Robinette both leap for a header Saturday at ACCS during the tournament. (Courtesy Bill Barksdale)

Cathedral's Kennedy Williams competes with Adams County Christian's Juan Beteo Saturday at ACCS. The Rebels would win 1-0 on a penalty kick by Beteo. (Courtesy Bill Barksdale)

Adams County Christian's Nolan Owens battles toward the Cathedral goal as Logan Ellis and Liam Blackburn defend. ACCS won 1-0, Saturday. (Courtesy Bill Barksdale)

Cathedral's Kennedy Williams competes with Adams County Christian's Juan Beteo Saturday at ACCS. The Rebels would win 1-0 on a penalty kick by Beteo. (Courtesy Bill Barksdale)

Adams County Christian School Rebels boys’ soccer team poses after winning the ACCS Shootout on Saturday. (Courtesy of Jimmy Allgood)

NATCHEZ — It was a banner day for Adams County Christian School’s varsity soccer team last Saturday at the 12^th annual ACCS Christmas Soccer Shootout Tournament as the Rebels won all three of their matches.

Four teams participated in the day-long tournament — ACCS, Cathedral High School, Parklane Academy from McComb, and Washington School from Greenville.

“It was a very large crowd represented by all schools,” ACCS head coach Jimmy Allgood said. “I was very pleased in that every player got to see playing time.”

The first match for ACCS was also an official MAIS Division II South, Class AAAA match as the Rebels took on Brookhaven Academy. And the Rebels rolled to a 3-0 win over the Cougars.

Nolan Owens, fresh off a five-goal performance in a 9-0 win at home over Porter’s Chapel Academy last Friday afternoon, scored the first goal for the Rebels. That was followed by goals from Juan Boteo and Will Ray.

“Due to the shortened time during the Brookhaven Academy district game, all players did not get to see playing time,” Allgood said. “But it was a very important district match that could have playoff implications in the future.”

ACCS then took on cross-town rival Cathedral High School in the second match of the day for both teams. And it looked like this match was on its way to ending in a scoreless tie until a foul was called on the Green Wave late in the second half and Boteo scored the penalty-kick goal for the Rebels, giving them a 1-0 win and a spot in the championship match.

“We lost to ACCS on a penalty kick for a foul in the box in the last five minutes of the game. Disappointing,” Cathedral head coach Dennis Hogue said. “We did alright.”

As for the match itself, Hogue said, “It was a good match. They pass the ball well. They communicate well. They’re a really good team. They have a couple of good skill players. We had a game plan for them.”

And the host team would prevail with a 4-1 win over the Parklane Academy Pioneers. Alex Patterson scored the first goal for ACCS. Boteo scored his third goal of the tournament in this game and Tripp Cotten scored to put the match away for good. Patterson scored his second goal of the match in the second half.

As for the team’s overall performance, Allgood said, “Our trapping, passing, communication, and skill levels were top shelf on Saturday. Overall, we possessed the ball about 70 percent of all the games.”

Another player who stood out for ACCS was goalkeeper Jasin Wesberry, who made one big save after another.

“He was fantastic,” Allgood said. “He only allowed one goal the entire day. He had about 20 saves on the day.”

Cathedral’s first match of the tournament ended in a 0-0 tie with Parklane Academy.

“We played Parklane strong. We possessed the ball 75 percent of the time. We shot 10 to one on them. We just couldn’t finish,” Hogue said. “Our goalkeeper, Joseph Garrity, got the ball on his hands only one time. Pleased with the performance. We played well.”

Even though Cathedral was shut out in both of its matches, Hogue said that Paxton Junkin and Liam Blackburn stood out defensively for the Green Wave.

“One (Junkin) is on the front and the other (Blackburn) is on the back. Both were solid,” Hogue said.

Hogue added that he was pleased with the turnout for the Green Wave, especially on a Saturday.

“We had a big crowd. Support for Cathedral has always been great. We had a ton of support,” Hogue said.

Both ACCS and Cathedral are scheduled to have matches at home today if the weather permits.

ACCS (7-3, 1-1) hosts Brookhaven Academy for a varsity-only match at 3:30 p.m.

Cathedral (3-5) plays host to Parklane Academy with the varsity match at 5:30 p.m. and the junior varsity match to follow.

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