NATCHEZ &045; The absence of Luke Ogden during the second week of spring football workouts at Adams Christian might have been a blessing in disguise.

Ogden worked out just for the first week before being sidelined due to an illness, but that gave the Rebels something to emphasize as they wrapped up workouts Thursday &045; improving the passing game.

Not only the passing game, but the Rebels are trying to find a new quarterback as well.

&uot;We’re looking at some things in our passing game,&uot; ACCS head coach Keith Walters said. &uot;We’ll still be run-oriented, I’m sure, because we’ve got Ogden. When you’ve got the leading rusher in the state, you’ve got to run him. But I think we’ll be a little diversified.&uot;

The Rebels are in search of a quarterback to replaced the graduating Erik Anders, who Walters admitted didn’t throw as much as they would have liked because of an inexperienced offensive line.

Both Tim Foster and Dustin Case took snaps behind center during Thursday’s workout, and right now both are in the running for the starting spot. Foster has the height and arm, while Case has plenty of quickness.

&uot;That’s going to be an interesting battle,&uot; Walters said. &uot;Both will be good quarterbacks. Timmy is taller and can throw it, but Dustin has more experience from playing some last year. I’d imagine if we go option game, we’ll use Dustin. But Timmy has run the option well. But they’re smart. They’re both straight-A students.&uot;

How much the quarterback position can throw will also depend on the offensive line. What’s good about that front is most of them are returning, but the one senior on that unit was its anchor, Adam Pate.

&uot;Ideally we’ll probably be 70-30,&uot; Walters said. &uot;A lot of our problems last year was protection. I think for us to improve we’ve got to protect better. We’ve got a couple kids not out here we need out. Finally we’ll have some depth at the line. We’ll still be young, but three of four of those will be juniors who played every game last year.&uot;

But Ogden still ran for over 1,700 yards with the struggling front. Ogden &045; who runs a 4.59 in the 40 &045; added 10 pounds since last season and is up to 220, and this may be the season he gets attention from college scouts as he lines up for his senior season.

&uot;I told Luke that for us to be better offensively, we’ll need him to gain 1,700 yards again,&uot; Walters said. &uot;He said, ‘Coach, I want to win. That doesn’t make any difference.’&uot;

Defensively the Rebels have a number of players back but will have to go back to the basics of tackling in August since players worked out in shorts and shoulder pads this spring.

Problems of that nature haunted the Rebels at times last year, and they also have to prepare themselves for offenses that aren’t based solely on the ground game any more.

&uot;I think we weren’t good defensively, and I’m a defensive guy,&uot; Walters said. &uot;We’ve got a lot of our defensive guys back. In the league we’re in, the offenses have really gotten diversified. It really has changed. We’ve got to tackle better. That will be our No. 1 goal in August &045; tackling better.

&uot;Technique-wise, we weren’t very good. The kids are very aggressive and physical, but the technique of tackling &045; that was something we were not very good at. But they’ll hit you.&uot;