NATCHEZ &045; As the steam from a victorious ice bath billowed on a muggy field behind him, Adams County Christian head Coach Keith Walters’ pearly whites shone brightly amid the black night Friday.

Walters had a right to smile. Two big reasons the Rebels were left out of the Mississippi Private School Association Class AAA playoffs were due to gut-wrenching losses to Central Private and Copiah Academy.

After a 46-13 trouncing of Copiah Friday, ACCS (3-1) is now 2-0 over the duo that dashed its postseason hopes in 2002, and consequently begin South District 3-AAA play undefeated in two games.

&uot;We pointed to these two games last spring. This season is dedicated to Kramer Fife,&uot; Walters said. &uot;The two we lost to these guys and Central Private we lost by only five points. We’ve played really hard these last two games.&uot;

Special delivery running back Luke Ogden didn’t eclipse the 300-yard mark like he did against Central Private last week, but at the same time he only played 2 1/4 quarters.

With an 81-yard touchdown from the Rebels’ second play from scrimmage, after a procedure penalty, in the second half Ogden went over 200 rushing yards and made it a 36-6 contest.

Ogden, whose last gallop was a 28-yard run with 8:14 left in the third quarter, finished with a ho-hum 255 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns.

&uot;Copiah kept us out last year. We needed to pay them back and we did that tonight,&uot; the senior carrier said.

&uot;The (offensive) line started picking it up in the second quarter. We kind of came out slow. But we finally started to roll and did what we had to do to get the win.&uot;

Ogden’s synopsis was right on the money. The Rebels and Ogden, who had just 3 yards on his first four touches, began slowly.

A 15-yard bootleg run from quarterback Dustin Case got the AC sparks flying, and three plays later the workhorse Ogden broke free for a 34-yard score for an early 7-0 lead.

The triple-option Colonels couldn’t get moving vertically all night long. Each time a handful of carriers tested the inside of the line of scrimmage an AC defender was there to greet them.

&uot;We were short-handed tonight because my top running back will be out several weeks with an (MCL) injury,&uot; first-year Copiah head coach John Callahan said. &uot;We had to switch people around in our triple option. It’s tough to play against a good team like ACCS.&uot;

When a David Barnes fumble inside AC’s own 10 led to Copiah quarterback David Hester shoving his way into paydirt from 8 yards out to make it 7-6, the fans looked as though they were in for a tight one.

Like fingernails slowly running down a chalkboard, the Rebels methodically put an end to any hopes of a close ball game by reeling off 36 unanswered points.

After Dustin Case and Cole Bradford hooked up on a 37-yard touchdown connection, Bradford fielded a punt after Copiah’s ensuing drive, found the AC sideline, waved to his teammates and was gone to push the Rebel lead up to 20-6 with 4:48 left before halftime.

&uot;We surrendered too many big plays,&uot; Callahan said. &uot;That was really the big difference maker in the game. You can’t do that and expect to win.&uot;

After an AC kickoff, the Colonels ran two plays before Hester was intercepted by Nathan Loyd, which led to you know who.

On the second play after the turnover, Ogden followed his blockers, bananaed around several defenders and kept his balance after wrestling his foot away from a would-be tackler on a slippery field to go 56 yards and push the AC advantage to 29-9.

&uot;I just take my time back there running the ball,&uot; a modest Ogden said.

&uot;I trust the blockers that are in front of me to open up holes. If they don’t I’ll just run through them anyway.&uot;

As his night came to a close, Ogden made room for back ball carriers such as Lee Dellinger who scored a 1-yard touchdown.

The Colonels answered on the proceeding drive for a little measure of respect.

&uot;I’m happy we scored when we did. We had a goal-to-go situation and put it in like we were supposed to,&uot; Callahan said. &uot;I even liked the last one we scored because we were evenly matched with (AC) with our sophomores against theirs.&uot;

Walters admitted his Rebel offense was confused early by the Copiah ‘D’, who was tenacious to the ball early, plugging holes and making it difficult for AC to shift gears.

Walters credits a young and undersized offensive line with growing into their stripes during the fourth game of the season.

&uot;He’s really improved in his patience since last year,&uot; Walters said of Ogden. &uot;Last season was his first year to play tailback. The way Luke makes people miss is something he wasn’t able to do last year.&uot;