NATCHEZ — Trinity Episcopal Day School football head coach Josh Loy said they have a tough season opener today, but an early win against CENLA Christian Academy could speak volumes for their season.

Loy said the Saints came together during their jamboree against Copiah and Central Hinds Academy and showed that they have made significant improvement since their summer scrimmages.

“Our linemen pass protected much better and we ran the ball well,” Loy said. “Our defense continued to play well. We were able to move the ball in the passing game as well.”

With a week of practice since their jamboree, Loy said he was able to capitalize on their positive strides, and also correct some things that were a little shabby.

“We’re cleaning up some of our assignments and some of our defensive schemes,” he said.

Loy said a team like CENLA would really test them and their willingness to compete.

“They’re extremely athletic,” Loy said. ‘They may be the fastest team we’ll see all year. We’ve got our work cut out for us, it’ll be a challenge.”

If they can meet this challenge, Loy said it’d show signs that they’ll be able to do well in the playoffs.

“CENLA will be one of the better teams in Class A,” Loy said. “No doubt we’ll see them again in the playoffs and this will get us off to a good start.”

There are several things the Saints must do if they want to succeed against CENLA tonight, Loy said.

“We just have to execute offensively and protect the football,” Loy said. “We had too many penalties last week, so we have to clean that up. Our defensive line will have to pressure their quarterback. It’s going to be a challenge for sure.”

Even though it’s only a season opener, Loy said a loss could really hurt them this season.

“You never want to drop a home game,” he said. “I put a lot of emphasis on that. We’re playing at home in front of our fans and supporters and we need to get that win.”

The Saints will host CENLA Christian at 7 p.m. tonight.

Adams County Christian School

The Rebels will open up their football season to some stiff competition as they take on last season’s Class A state runner up, Wilkinson County Christian Academy.

ACCS head coach David King said he feels his team is on track to where they’re trying to go after last week’s jamboree against Columbia Academy and River Oaks High School.

“We did everything we wanted to,” King said. “We saw some good things and we hope to approve upon the jamboree.”

In this leg of the season, King said his main focus is getting every one equal playing time so he can estimate the size of his depth chart.

“We’ve got a lot of kids, and I want to be able to play a lot of them,” King said. “We’re just getting a lot of reps so we can play them all.”

King said he was especially pleased with his depth in the quarterback position.

“We played three different quarterbacks, including (starter) Tyler Stockstill,” King said. “We have several options there and that’s pretty good.

The Rebels’ defense also did well in the jamboree, King said.

Playing a team coming off of a deep playoff run can be intimidating, but King said as long as the Rebels do what’s expected of them, they’ll play a good game.

“They played in the Class A state championship so they know how to win,” he said. “But we want to go out and worry about ourselves.”

The Rebels will host WCCA at 7 p.m. tonight.