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NATCHEZ — Adams County Christian School won the MAIS 5A State Championship hosted by Jackson Academy  Thursday night by beating Simpson Academy 47-29. It was the first state title the Rebels had won since 2018.

It is the sixth state title for ACCS Head Coach David King. He won four state titles at Trinity Episcopal Day School and now two titles at ACCS. Simpson Academy lost their second straight title game. 

Coleman Carter made a phenomenal play to open the scoring for ACCS. He ran 23 yards on a quarterback keeper to put up the Rebels 6-0. ACCS Senior Nick Beach, who fought through a significant knee injury last year, made a huge block on the play. He said it is a play he will never forget.

“I’ll remember when I pancaked a dude on the 40 yard line on like the second or third play of the game and we ended up scoring,”Beach said. “I’m going to miss the familiness we have. We are all family and love each other. I love our coaches. Coach King, he is one of my favorite coaches I’ve ever had. I’m going to miss him a lot. We left on a good note. There isn’t anything to be sad about.” 

Beach was a member of the 2020 team that lost in the state championship game to Leake Academy his freshman year. He almost didn’t play this year but the coaches talked him into coming back for his senior season so he did. Injuries and doubt left him wondering if he was good enough to keep playing football. 

AC’s senior lineman made the decision to not quit and ended up playing a lot more. Beach said the team ended up getting the state championship they deserved. ACCS had fallen short the previous two seasons in the semi-final rounds. 

Senior defensive lineman Kaleb Bailey made a huge impact on the defensive side of the football. ACCS held Simpson Academy to 0 points in the first half with their strong defense and scored their second touchdown after an interception by sophomore Braden Poole. 

Carter completed a three yard touchdown pass to senior Jordan Berry to put ACCS up 12-0 with 8:09 in the second quarter. ACCS would maintain the scoreline going into the second half. 

AC junior Adrian Walker opened the second half with a 95 yard kickoff return for a touchdown after spinning out of a tackle. It helped shift the momentum fully in AC’s favor. 

Jordan would score about four minutes later in the third quarter on a 17 yard rushing touchdown for ACCS.Junior  Kentrell Stampley scored the next touchdown by scooping up a fumble and taking it 25 yards for a score. 

Simpson Academy finally scored for the first time in the game with 4:07 left in the third quarter. They scored again to make it 33-13 with 11:47 left in the 4Q. ACCS responded with a 30 yard rush by Walker for a touchdown. 

Sophomore Tristan Burns would score the final touchdown for ACCS on a 15 yard rush. It was the final blow as the Rebels would hold on to win 47-29. Kaleb said the game went perfectly to plan. 

“It means a lot of hard work and dedication have been put together and combined and now we are here,” Kaleb said. “I wasn’t nervous. We played them before. I thought if we executed the plan we would win and we did. We executed the plan. That is all we had to do.” 

ACCS finished the game with 350 yards of total offense and picked up 14 first downs. About 300 of those yards came in the first three quarters. Walker finished the game with 111 rushing yards and a touchdown while Carter had 88 rushing yards and a touchdown. 

Carter was 7-12 for 84 yards passing and a touchdown. Simpson Academy had four turnovers in the loss.

“We got it done this year finally. When the playoffs come around no one can stop us. Our offensive line was awesome. They blew the other team off of the water,” Carter said. “It is a dream come true. God is awesome for real.” 

Carter has another season with the Rebels as a junior. AC should have a strong core of juniors and sophomores coming back next year as well. Walker will be one of those guys returning and Carter pointed to Walker’s kickoff return as being a big play. 

“That kickoff return was special. He is awesome and will be back next year. We played as a team, came together and we don’t plan on stopping,” Carter said. “Half of the seniors I’ve known for my whole life. My last game with them, I’m glad it ended like this.”