NATCHEZ — David King and his coaching staff are starting with a blank slate this season at Adams County Christian School.

And when fall camp started at the end of July, King knew that he was playing catch up with his young Rebel football team.

“I think the main thing was we wanted to introduce ourselves to the kids,” King said. “We are starting from scratch on a lot of things, but the kids have responded well.”

King said he wanted to keep things simple at the beginning of camp and not throw too much at the players too fast.

“We do so many things, and we didn’t want to throw everything at these guys too fast,” King said. “We’re starting with fundamentals this first year and are going to do the best we can.”

King said his focus has been on conditioning and attitude early in camp more than the nuts and bolts of his schemes.

King said getting ACCS to the level he expects will take time, but it starts with this year’s team.

“ACCS has been down for a while, and we are excited to have the opportunity to compete,” he said. “We’re going to have setbacks, but we will keep working and keep believing.

“We are trying to change the culture here, and I always have great expectations, but we are in a building phase.”

ACCS will face Madison-Ridgeland Academy for its jamboree Thursday, and King said his players are excited about getting on the field and facing another opponent.

“I hope they are excited,” King said. “MRA is one of the top schools, so if they are not, they better get excited.”

King said overall he is happy with where the Rebels are at this point in camp.

“For the most part we’ve improved,” he said.

King said the remainder of fall camp and the jamboree will help him and his staff determine where players will fall on the depth chart, but that process will continue all season.

Currently King has a pretty good idea of who the starters will be when the season opener against Cathedral School comes around Aug. 17, but several players are still fighting for playing time.