NATCHEZ &045; It’s only a jamboree, but don’t tell that to the teams involved &045; or their future opponents.

While everyone will be interested to see which team has what, more folks may be on the lookout for the two teams with new head coaches this fall at the Adams Christian Jamboree tonight. The Rebels and Huntington Hounds will each take the field for the first time under new head coaches as two of the four teams in the jam.

Action starts at 5 p.m. with junior varsity action. The first varsity game is slated for 6:30 p.m. when Trinity Episcopal faces Huntington before Adams Christian squares off against Brookhaven Academy.

The Hounds will debut under head coach Chad Harkins, while the Rebels will have longtime head coach Bobby Marks back to lead the team.

&uot;I think we’ve got a good group of kids out, and they’re coming along well,&uot; Harkins said. &uot;I really think they’re anxious to get out there and play and anxious to work. As long as they keep working, we’ll keep improving.

&uot;There’s a lot of learning going on right now about everything &045; offense, defense, how you act on gameday, how you walk in the halls, how you dress yourself. They’re learning about the overall aspect of the deal.&uot;

Both the Rebels and Hounds will bring different packages to the field in years past, although the Rebels will still have a strong-armed quarterback in Timmy Foster. The Hounds, however, have switched to the double-wing, double-tight set Harkins had success with during his tenure at Block.

It’s can be a complex thing to implement in a hurry, and the Hounds have made some adjustments since last week’s scrimmage against Trinity. There may be more after tonight’s jamboree contests.

And Harkins has much more options than his predecessors at the school. The team has 32 kids out for football this fall.

&uot;Knowing how to do it didn’t take long,&uot; Harkins said. &uot;I think they’re really understanding what’s going on with it. It’s getting down to the nuts and bolts of it. We put them where they needed to go, and we’re working on how to get there and fine-tuning things.&uot;

The biggest adjustment may be moving Ricky Dunbar, a 6-2, 180-pound transfer out of Sicily Island, to fullback after he was playing only on the defensive side at linebacker. The Hounds will still have Hunter Norwood at quarterback and Huston Eliser in the backfield.

&uot;I thought there were some bright spots there that I thought they did well,&uot; Harkins said. &uot;And there were some things we need to work on. I think they’re definitely improving. We moved some people around, and I’m kind of anxious to see if the changes work. We’ll find out a lot more things tomorrow night.&uot;

The jamboree will be a rematch of the scrimmage with the Saints, and they’re looking to keep things going on the positive side with some returners on both the offensive and defensive lines and in the backfield.

Their biggest question mark may be at quarterback with sophomores Wells Middleton and Parker Brumfield splitting time there.

&uot;It was a good scrimmage with them, and I think good things are going to happen at Huntington,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;Chad will really work hard to get that program back. We’ll get our first look at Brookhaven. They went 9-2 last year and will be really good. And it’ll be a good chance to get a little scouting report on AC. It’ll be a great first week for high school football.&uot;

The Rebels may be the main ticket for the jamboree under Marks, who will coach for the first time in the stadium that bears his name. The veteran coach said he could have spent some time on injured reserve this week &045; a blitz play during intrasquad scrimmage resulted in him taking a helmet to the knee &045; but is ready to go in his return tonight.

The Rebels got a scrimmage in last week in a three-way workout with Tensas Academy and Glenbrook.

&uot;We did real well up there,&uot; Marks said. &uot;We only ran 15 plays, and they ran 15 plays. I think it’ll be a good jamboree. I’m really looking forward to it.&uot;

The veteran coach, of course, knows not to pull everything out of the playbook for the jamboree since all the eyes will be on their offensive set. Like Huntington in the first workout, everyone may be curious to see if Marks keeps it like he did with those teams from years ago or changes his style.

If you’re wondering about that, you’d better wait and see next week when the Rebels open the season at Centreville.

&uot;We’ll go out there and run our basic running plays,&uot; Marks said. &uot;I can’t show anything that I don’t want Centreville to see. Bill Hurst probably played me 20 times. He’ll pretty well know what I’ll try to do, and I pretty much know what he’ll try to do. Nobody will show anything but their basic stuff.&uot;