By REED DESALVO

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ —

Ignited by three goals apiece from Kyle Williams and Cristofer Thompson, the Rebels jumped out to a 4-0 advantage en route to earning a 6-2 win in MAIS 5-AAA boys soccer action.

“This is the best soccer we have played all year,” ACCS coach Jim Bob Allgood said. “We passed the ball, trapped and communicated, and we played unselfishly.”

Williams and Thompson each recorded two first-half goals and each added one more in the second to give them a hat trick in the contest.

“We knew we had to hustle (Thursday),” Williams said. “We had to figure out our passing and get our 1-2s going so we could get past their last line of defense.”

ACCS certainly managed to do that.

Williams got his squad on the board in the 13th minute. He then added a second score just three minutes on a penalty kick.

In the 36th minute, Thompson recorded his first goal of the game, then added his second just before the halftime whistle.

“We passed the ball real well, and we communicated,” Thompson said. “Once we started to play that well (communicating), our passes got better as the game went on.”

The win also gives the Rebels (11-3, 10-1) bragging rights in the Adams County rivalry.

“We have a big rivalry,” Williams said. “We really wanted to beat them.”

Cathedral was sluggish from the onset, trailing 5-0 before recording its first goal.

“They wanted it more than us (in the first half),” Cathedral coach Dennis Hogue said. “They came out hustling, and they just out-hustled us to every 50-50 ball in the air. I don’t think we won 10 percent of them, and they just wanted it more.”

Edson Martinez and Frederik Sanguinetti managed to each notch scores for the Green Wave (1-4) in the second half.

“We had a little success, and a little hustle paid off,” Hogue said. “It was a matter of pride in the end, and it turned the game around; we had a lot more opportunities on our attacking end, and I was proud of that effort, but it was a little too late.”

When Cathedral did seem to build any momentum, it was quickly punched away by ACCS goalkeeper Alex McCready, who recorded seven saves, including smacking a penalty-kick away.

“Every ACCS kid got action,” Allgood said. “And that’s the goal for me, as a coach, is to have every kid step on the pitch.”

Added Thompson, “We have to communicate a lot more and play smarter. We have to be aware and know what everyone is supposed to do.”

Cathedral will be back in action today when travels to Copiah Academy.

“There’s things on (the players’) end they have to work on, and there’s things on (the coaches’) end that we have to work on,” Hogue said. “We have to tweak players … We’ll fix these things, and we’ll be competitive.”

ACCS will travel Wednesday to Oak Forrest in Louisiana.