NATCHEZ &045; It’s a non-district game to end the season, and the Adams Christian Rebels have known for a few weeks now they’re in the MPSA Class AAA playoffs.

Stop snoring.

The way the Rebels see it, it’s their last chance to get back to playing well before being off next week and visiting Madison-Ridgeland Academy

Nov. 14 in the first round of the playoffs. The Rebels will host Class AA Silliman Friday to end their regular season at 7 p.m. in hopes of snapping a five-game losing skid.

&uot;We’re looking forward to having our last

home game and hope to have a good crowd,&uot; AC head coach Keith Walters said. &uot;We played hard Friday, and I told them that. As long as we play hard, I can live with that. The kids are going to play well Friday. Their spirits are pretty good. These are 16- and 17-year-old young ‘uns, and sometimes they bounce back quicker than the adults.&uot;

The Rebels as of Tuesday are still unsure of Luke Ogden whether he’ll be able to play. The running back who topped 1,000 yards midway through the season sat out last week’s loss to Parklane and sits at 1,315 yards on 191 carries so far.

Ogden has had a number of injuries this season, but the latest is a torn hamstring that has his status still undetermined.

&uot;He goes back to the doctor (today), and it could be yea or nay on that,&uot; Walters said. &uot;It’s better, but whether or not it’s good to go this week we don’t know. It’s his last home game as a senior, but until we get clearance from the doctor we don’t want to put him out there and tear it more. He really wants to play, so we’ll see what the doctor says.&uot;

The list of injuries is getting smaller for the Rebels, however, with big offensive lineman Zach Jones getting into practice Tuesday and center David Hood being cleared to play. The loss of linemen up front was partial to blame for the offensive skid over last five games.

The Rebels have scored 21 in their last five games and were shut out by Hillcrest Christian and Parklane. Only one touchdown came on the ground.

The offense switched around last week with Ogden out by putting Dustin Case at tailback and sophomore Timmy Foster at quarterback. Foster, who was coming off an elbow injury, completed 12 of 26 passes for 108 yards.

&uot;I thought he did well,&uot; Walters said. &uot;His elbow got well enough to where he could throw. He was 12 of 26, but we dropped four or five passes. For his first start against a triple-A team, he did just fine. I don’t want to get to where we’re throwing on every down. I don’t think you can win in high school doing that. But we’re looking at getting back our balance. We’ll still throw it some, but we’re going to run it.&uot;

The Rebels’ defense

missed a step, too, without Ogden occupying the middle linebacker spot, and this time they’ll have to go against a Silliman offensive unit that’s loaded with size. The Wildcats come in on a three-game losing skid after dropping a 42-6 decision to a powerful Simpson squad last week.

Both Silliman and AC have four common opponents &045; both teams beat Copiah, Parklane and Central Private, but Silliman beat Centreville whereas the Rebels dropped a 14-7 decision to the Tigers.

&uot;I’m going to tell you something you’re not going to believe, but their coach said they average 306 on the line,&uot; Walters said. &uot;Their right tackle is 6-5, 350. Their size is going to be a concern for us.&uot;

Centreville at Central Private

CENTREVILLE &045; The Tigers end the season on the road at Central, La., after dismantling a struggling Chamberlain-Hunt last week, 45-0.

The Tigers are out of the playoff picture after finishing 1-4 in District 4-AA, and the Rebels (1-4, 1-7) are also out of the hunt in the Division II 2-AAA race but finish the season next week against Parklane.