You’ve just got to wonder how long it’s been since someone has scheduled Jackson Prep for its homecoming game.

What in the world are the Adams Christian Rebels thinking scheduling the perennial MPSA power for a game that’s usually reserved for a sure win? Hey, why not?

The Rebels will host the Patriots at 7 p.m. Friday in their annual homecoming game, and they will give it their best shot as Week 7 opens for area MPSA squads.

&uot;We’re concerned for them &045; they’re down to 61 players,&uot; joked AC head coach Keith Walters, whose club will suit up roughly half as many. &uot;Usually they’re anywhere between 71 and 100. When you’ve got eight or nine coaches and 61 kids, what do you do with all those coaches? But they are tough, and it’s a privilege to play with them. We don’t have anything to lose. They’re expected to win. Whether we have enough depth to say in there with them or not, I don’t know.&uot;

What puts the Rebels behind the 8-ball more than anything is their current injury situation that even further reduces their numbers against Prep. Running back Luke Ogden is still nursing an assortment of injuries, but that quad injury has worsened and remains swollen.

Ogden &045; now at 1,074 yards on 120 carries &045; is questionable, while his backup, Cole Bradford, is out after injuring a knee in last week’s loss against Hillcrest. Offensive tackle Zach Jones is also out with a neck sprain.

Bradford’s injury puts the offense in a tight spot if Ogden can’t play the entire game Friday. Quarterback Dustin Case is the No. 3 running back, and that would move Timmy Foster to starting quarterback.

&uot;We don’t need anybody else to go down,&uot; Walters said. &uot;It’s hard to go three deep. It’s sort of a jigsaw puzzle.&uot;

Both Bradford and Jones went down with injuries in last week’s 28-0 loss at Hillcrest in what was the Rebels’ first loss of the season. They are still atop the standings in South Division II, but the schedule gets more difficult as the season wears on with this week’s game followed by contests against Parklane and an improved Lamar squad.

&uot;We were very disappointed,&uot; Walters said. &uot;It was 28-0, but it was really like 7-0 or 14-0. With eight minutes to go, it was 7-0. We made a couple of mistakes, and they scored three times in the last four minutes. Our players realized they let one get away, but Hillcrest is good and will win a lot of games.&uot;

The Rebels’ offense will have to put points on the board against the Patriots Friday. Prep lost its quarterback from last season, Luke Addison to graduation and have Joseph Queen at the position. The offense is different from last year’s set when Addison was more of a pocket pass, and Queen is 5-9, 165 and runs a good bit of option.

&uot;They can still throw it &045; don’t get me wrong,&uot; Walters said. &uot;But they’re more option-oriented than they were last year. They’re real good again defensively. They’re good and quick and don’t stay blocked. They’ll be the best defensive team we’ll see. There’s no question about that.&uot;

Trinity at Amite School Center

The Saints had Friday night off, and things worked out for the best for them when Pine Hills opted not to play. The Saints were nursing some bumps and bruises following their 20-14 overtime win over Oak Forest, and now they’re ready to go for the remainder of the season.

The Saints visit Amite Friday and play at highly touted Glenbrook Oct. 10 before finishing out the District 7-A schedule against Tensas Academy and WCCA.

&uot;We’re a very fresh ball club right now,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;We just had a really good workout (Monday) &045; probably the best workout we’ve had all year. The weather change has been real nice, and everybody realizes this is the start of a new season. We’re focused and ready to start out new season.&uot;

The break served as the divider of the regular season and puts the Saints back on track of wrapping up a playoff spot out of the district. They’ll have to win Friday night and in two weeks against Tensas to set up a showdown against WCCA in Week 10 on Oct. 24, but that’s still three weeks away.

The week off helped them put everything back into perspective following the huge win at OFA, last year’s Class AA champion.

&uot;Oak Forest was just a tough ball game, and this time of year you have your ankle sprains, jammed fingers and other injuries,&uot; King said. &uot;We got those little bitty injuries out of the way.&uot;

The Saints will match up against an Amite team that’s struggled a bit this year after narrowly missing the playoffs last year. The Rebels lost a number of seniors off last year’s roster, including quarterback Brent Bean, son of head coach Barry Bean.

The Rebels (2-4, 1-1) dropped a 27-7 decision to Tensas Academy last week after opening the district with a win over Pine Hills.

&uot;It’s a rivalry game, and they always play us hard,&uot; King said. &uot;We’re excited about starting back in district and hope to use this as a springboard to finish this season on a very high note. Hopefully we’ll have another good game. They’re a little down, but Barry does a good job of getting them ready. They’ve run the option again. We’ve got to play better assignment football than we did against Oak Forest.&uot;

Huntington at Tensas

The best thing to happen for the Hounds following their 35-0 loss to WCCA last week was they came out with no injuries. Which is good, considering they were hovering around 13 healthy players at the time with half the schedule remaining.

Take pity on sophomore quarterback Hunter Norwood, who has played three games at the position and two have been WCCA and Trinity Episcopal.

&uot;Woodville has a good team,&uot; Huntington head coach Hugh Hathcock said. &uot;They’re strong at really every position. They just over-powered us.&uot;

Now the Hounds are getting back closer to 17 players, including Trey Keith back playing. Adam Trevillion is becoming a fixture in the backfield after starting the season at quarterback, but lineman Lynn Loomis and running back Jordy Jones remain out with injuries.

&uot;We were hoping (Jones) was going to be back this week, but he worked out and ran some and said his leg was so sore he couldn’t hardly walk,&uot; Hathcock said. &uot;We’ve had injuries and have been switching people around. It looks like we’ve got something ready to go, and we get somebody hurt. They’ve been working hard and trying hard, but they’re something missing. We really haven’t come together as a team yet.&uot;

The Hounds will try for their first win in District 7-A Friday against the Chiefs, an improved bunch after posting a 27-7 win over Amite School Center last week for their first win of the season. The Chiefs had trouble scoring in their first five games of the season and didn’t get their first rushing touchdown until the Week 5 loss at Briarfield.

WCCA at Pine Hills

The Rams are getting back to full strength after their 35-0 steamroll of Huntington last week. Travis Allen was nursing an ankle injury two weeks ago, but he lined up alongside Duston Dor to pile up over 300 yards rushing in the win.

Now the Rams will travel to struggling Pine Hills, a team that is trying to salvage its season after it seemed in doubt when the roster dropped to eight players. The Wildcats backed out of its game last week against Trinity to avoid serious injury to its 11 players.

Silliman at Centreville

The Tigers hope to bounce back after losing last week’s District 4-AA contest to Columbia.

Chase Paulk stepped in last week in place of injured senior running back Blake Devall, normally the top ball carrier in the Tigers’ ground attack.

The Tigers (3-3, 1-2) need a win to remain in the hunt for the playoffs.

CHA at Prairie View

At least the Wildcats (0-6, 0-3) have the biggest one out of the way. The Wildcats were overwhelmed last week against Simpson Academy, considered one of the best teams in all of MPSA, but have a better shot this week.

The Spartans come into the game also winless.