NATCHEZ &045; Don’t ask Heath Williams what’s aching him right now.

Not if you don’t have about a half hour to just listen.

There’s the one knee with a MCL tear that’s been bothering him since Week 2. There’s the shoulder that’s been bothering him since Week 6. And now the good knee &045; it’s aching, too, thanks to strained ligaments suffered in last week’s game at Brookhaven.

But Williams and the Adams Christian Rebels have no time to rest and recuperate. Friday is the start of the Class AA playoffs, and it’s a one-game season from here on out.

&uot;It hurts a good bit, but sometimes you’ve got to play through it,&uot; said Williams, part of what has turned into a patchwork of running backs the team has used this season. &uot;(It hurts) all the time, especially when you’re running the ball. It starts hurting real bad.

&uot;(I played) only on offense last week, but this week I’ll go both ways. I told coach there’s no use in staying out in the playoffs.&uot;

Williams has suffered the fate of many on the Adams Christian team this season, yet the Rebels (6-5) are still in the playoffs as the No. 2 team in District 3-AA. They will travel to District 4-AA champion Centreville on Friday in what will be their second straight season to make the playoffs.

Not bad for a team had qualified only three times in school history prior to last season and hasn’t had a winning record since 1989.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

&uot;We got really close to winning this game last year (against MRA) and got beat by a touchdown,&uot; Adams Christian head coach Keith Walters said. &uot;Hopefully we

can learn from that. You have to be there a lot to know what the feeling is like. You can tell by the way they’re approaching film work and practice. They understand what’s on the line here. Hopefully we’ll play well, and we’ll see what happens.&uot;

Now the Rebels have an opportunity of getting another round in the playoffs and do a step better than last season. Things have gone better in recent weeks despite the injuries as the team finished runner-up in district despite taking Central Hinds to the fourth quarter in a hard-fought game.

The injury situation is looking better &045; defensive tackle Patrick Womack is back after suffering a broken nose, Brock Vines is limited but should play despite a shin bruise and Lee Dellinger should play despite sitting out last week against Brookhaven.

&uot;It’s hard to get an offense that clicks when you lose people every week,&uot; receiver David Trisler said. &uot;You have to put people in different positions. It’s hard to get used to a position. (But) we’ve got a lot of people on the team that went to the playoffs last year, and I think it’s going to help this year.

&uot;Last year it was the first time to make the playoffs in a while, and we were nervous going in. This time we know what the atmosphere is going to be like.&uot;

Not only that, but the Rebels have a good idea of their opponent. It may seem like ages ago when Centreville came to Natchez and downed the Rebels 27-14. The Tigers haven’t changed much since then, relying on running back Blake Devall and using more of quarterback Jennings Field in the passing game.

&uot;They’re not 10-1 and ranked for no reason,&uot; Walters said. &uot;It’s playoff time, and you don’t expect to play people who aren’t any good. Devall is a good back, and the Fields kid is really playing well. Their offensive line is doing a good job. Blake is going to touch it a lot, and everybody knows that. But they’ll throw it. They’re a real challenge for us with the speed they’ve got.&uot;

The Tigers’ defense may be the biggest improvement since that Week 1 encounter. The Tigers silenced a very good Oak Forest team 27-6 in two weeks ago to claim the district title after winning games where the offense basically out-scored the opponent.

Veteran head coach Bill Hurst made some changes with Devall going from safety to linebacker and inserting Field on defense. But the Rebels’ have improved on defense as well, and they hope to do a better job of containing the Tigers’ offense than in that first outing.

Devall ran 30 times for 142 yards in that game, and a big 81-yard pass from Field to Tal Priest may have been the turning point in the game.

&uot;We’ve got to stop the run,&uot; Williams said. &uot;Sometimes they’ll dump pass it, and we’ve got to stop that. We’ve got a good defense, and we’ve been working hard all week. We’ve been stepping up defensively a lot compared to last year. We have two or three interceptions every game.&uot;

The Rebels have to execute on offense to stay with the Tigers, who will keep pounding Devall just outside the tackles as they did so well in that first game. But it’s another edition of the rivalry between the two schools, one that Walters said goes way back.

This time, however, the loser goes home.

&uot;Nobody is expecting us to beat Centreville, but we’ll show up because they told us we had to,&uot; Walters joked. &uot;We’re the underdog, and nobody is giving us much of a chance. But we’re putting a lot on our seniors this week. Our seniors and their seniors will have to step up and be leaders.&uot;