NATCHEZ — Adams County Christian School head coach David King is not satisfied.
Even though the Rebels rolled over River Oaks, 51-21 Friday night, King knows that his team is better than they showed.
“We made a lot of mental mistakes,” King said. “River Oaks is always a solid ball club, very well coached. We did some things uncharacteristically that championship caliber teams don’t do. We had many mental breakdowns on both sides of the ball and especially special teams.”
It didn’t take long for ACCS to establish themselves as the dominant team, going up early and piling it on late into the game.
Trey Fleming put the Rebels up 7-0 midway through the first on an eight-yard touchdown run, the first of his three touchdowns on the night.
Fleming would strike again on the most electric play of the night, hauling in a short pass in the flat, reversing field and taking the ball 65 yards for another touchdown, pushing the ACCS lead to 13-0.
Fleming then padded the lead, scampering in from 37 yards out to make it 19-0 ACCS.
“It was good out there, and I felt good,” Fleming said. “I promised myself I would get four, but coach only let me get three.”
ACCS would continue to add to the lead with Lester Wells adding an eight-yard touchdown run to push the score to 26-0.
River Oaks wasn’t going to go down without a fight, though, and would put points on the board for the first time late in the second quarter when quarterback Brendan MacGregor connected with Colton Carmane from 35 yards out.
But it would only take ACCS one play to respond with Tyler Stockstill hooking up with Wells on a 64-yard touchdown pass, giving ACCS a 32-7 lead going into the half. Stockstill finished the night 2-4 for 81 yards and the touchdown.
ACCS seemed to be in control of the game as the second half kicked off, but they received a gut shot when Fleming was ejected with 7:50 left in the third quarter.
“That was all on me,” Fleming said. “I shouldn’t have retaliated like I did. I take that blame.”
Fleming said he was trying to run off the field after his team had thrown an interception, when his jersey was grabbed and he was taken to the ground for no reason.
“That is a prime example of a guy that played his tail off the whole game, and let one play ruin his night,” King said. “He is a great player and a great kid, he just let that kid dictate something he shouldn’t have done.”
Despite losing one of their main players for the rest of the night, ACCS was able to stay on track.
Chisum Mardis increased the Rebel lead to 38-7 on a 14 yard run, but seconds later, River Oaks was lighting up the scoreboard as Taylor Tindall took the ensuing kickoff back 89 yards for a touchdown.
The scoring wouldn’t stop there, with ACCS’ Torrey Smith going 54 yards for a touchdown on their first play of the next drive, making the score 45-14.
River Oaks would hang around, scoring on their next drive with a one-yard run from MacGregor and cutting the lead to 45-21.
The Rebels would put the game away early in the fourth with Sam Butler rumbling in from three yards out and capping the scoring at 51-21.
The ACCS running game was the highlight of the night racking up 350 yards and six touchdowns, which were scored by five different players. The defense was also sturdy shutting out the River Oaks attack, led by Pete Guedon and his seven tackles and interception on the night.
River Oaks was able to have some success in the air with MacGregor going 12-28 for 247 yards and a touchdown, and Carmane reeling in 8 passes for 155 yards.
Next up for ACCS is a showdown with highly touted Centreville, who took down Trinity 51-24.
“If I’m thinking right about that film and watching Centreville’s film, I might have to bull whip them to get them on the bus to go down there,” King said. “That is what I am afraid of. They are big time.”