starters out injured

By

ADAM DAIGLE

NATCHEZ &045; Second verse, same as the first?

From the here-we-go-again file, Adams Christian is starting out its season just as it spent most of last season &045; a whole lot of limping and visits so often by the trainer you’d swear he was a member of the faculty.

When the Rebels open the season tonight at Centreville Academy, they’ll likely be down two players &045; maybe three &045; with 11 games to go on the schedule. Duncan Guedon is likely out for the season, Brock Vines may not play and Simon Sullivan may suit up but play sparingly.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Centreville.

&uot;We’ve just got to play with what we’ve got,&uot; Adams head coach Bobby Marks said. &uot;Other than that, we’ve had pretty good practices. We’ve had to add an hour each day to put them where they’re not used to playing. But you know what? We’ll quit crying about it. You’ve got to play with what you’ve got. The kids are working hard.&uot;

Yet it sends the lineups on both sides of the ball into a bit of a tailspin since Guedon was linebacker on defense and a backup halfback on offense. He suffered a knee injury on a play at the jamboree Friday against Huntington and is out for the year &045; maybe even more.

After looking at film, coaches saw Guedon wasn’t hit on the play. He cut back to try and make a tackle and got his knee caught up under him, and doctors said initial findings had the patella broken away from the growth plate.

But his ACL may be torn as well, which could put him out three to six months, Marks said.

Guedon had to come in at running back Friday when Vines went out with a concussion. Sullivan sat out the jamboree after suffering a back injury the week prior in the scrimmage, but he may play Friday.

Eric Perry will move to that halfback spot tonight.

&uot;We hate it for Duncan,&uot; Marks said. &uot;He worked so hard and was a starter on both sides of the ball. The injury may be worse than what we thought. They’re still looking at it, but it looks pretty bad. He’s big, fast and just a good kid. This is the first week of the season, and this time last week I don’t think we had anybody hurt.&uot;

The Rebels hope to fill in the two linebacker spots on defense tonight against the Tigers and their ground game. Vines is one of the team’s better defenders, and he may be needed against a power running game that won’t be as big and physical as in years past but may still be as fundamentally sound.

The Tigers under longtime head coach Bill Hurst are starting the season after losing 15 seniors from last year’s team that lost in the state championship game. And the Rebels &045; with or without Vines &045; may still be finding themselves on defense.

&uot;Coach (Ron) Rushing has been working on different defenses,&uot; Marks said. &uot;You can always count on (Hurst’s team) being tough. I imagine we’ll have our hands full. Coach Rushing saw them (in a scrimmage), and he said they looked very good defensively and offensively they were OK.

&uot;They’re not as big and strong as they have been in the past. I know one thing &045; his team will be in good shape.&uot;

WCCA at Porter’s Chapel

WOODVILLE &045; Rams head coach Paul Hayles is confident no one on the MPSA scheduling committee has it out for his club. But their non-district schedule couldn’t be any tougher.

Friday’s game at Porter’s Chapel is just part of another bruising schedule outside of district this fall. It’s been the norm in recent years for WCCA with past schedules including Centreville, Oak Forest and Adams Christian.

Porter’s Chapel has a wealth of experience this year and is expected to contend for the Class A state title.

&uot;Two of our first four opponents are ranked in the top five in single-A,&uot; Hayles said. &uot;(PCA) is ranked No. 2 right behind Claiborne, and then we’ve got the defending double-A South State champions (in Centreville). Then we’ve got Brookhaven. But we’ll take it &045; whatever we’ve got to face, we’ll face it. It’s just the way it fell, I guess.&uot;

So there’s no use in complaining about it, and folks in Woodville will remember last year’s 13-6 win over Porter’s Chapel was the Eagles’ lone regular season loss in 2004. And just like last year, it’s the first time to play for real for the Rams after they declined playing in a jamboree for a tuneup.

But the Rams did get in a scrimmage against Central Private two weeks ago. The Rams had success with the running game with Eli Ashley and newcomer Chris Gann, although Gann has battled a virus this week and was not supposed to practice Wednesday.

&uot;We came out without any injuries and made a lot of mistakes, which you’ll do in a scrimmage,&uot; Hayles said. &uot;It’s good size back there. Both of them are well over 200 pounds. We did turn the ball over a couple of times on different occasions.&uot;

It’s defense that may be critical Friday against the Eagles, who will try to bring a power running game as well. They have size in the backfield that may be the main ticket on offense.

&uot;They’ll be excited and ready to play us,&uot; Hayles said. &uot;Hopefully we’ll be able to return the favor. They’ve got a running back who is 6-2, 220, and he can go. He’s the focal point, and we’ve got to shut him down. It’s a lot easier to talk about it than do it.&uot;

Amite at Trinity Episcopal

NATCHEZ &045; The Saints came out of last week’s jamboree with perhaps the strongest performance, and now they’ll carry that momentum into the season opener.

The Saints will host Amite School Center, one of two single-A opponents on the schedule this season. The Rebels come into the game with a new head coach after Paul Kircharr left after one season to coach at Rebul Academy.

The Saints had their least difficult game of the season last year against the Rebels, but that may not be the case Friday night. As the season goes on, the schedule will get tougher.

The Saints will be without Matthew Freeman Friday night.

&uot;They look like they’re improved form last year,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;It should be a game where if we play our best we should have a chance to win. Our conditioning is so good at this part of the year. We always seem to get a big start on everybody because of our conditioning. We made a lot of mistakes (Friday) offensively but looked good defensively.&uot;

Huntington at UCS

FERRIDAY, La. &045; Watch the films from last week’s jamboree. You can see the high notes where things were going well and the low spots where things weren’t.

The pattern? Most of the low points came near the end of the 15-minute games, when everyone got tired and had trouble executing the offense.

That will change over time.

&uot;You’ve got to get used to being able to play a whole game,&uot; Hounds head coach Chad Harkins said. &uot;Thank God we’ve got two weeks to play non-district before district starts. Hopefully we can get in some type of game shape. At times we looked good. Then there were times we just kind of mentally got unfocused. We’ve got to play when we’re tired and focus when we’re tired.&uot;

The Hounds go to Brandon to face the Flames to open the season in what was an off week earlier this summer when Grawood left the MPSA. The Flames finished 4-7 last year after losing their final three games of the regular season.

Silliman at Tensas

ST. JOSEPH, La. &045; The Chiefs open the season at home at home against the Class AA Wildcats, who struggled last season in their district.

Tensas will debut Friday night with sophomore Bennett Schauf at quarterback and a defense that will base out of a three-man front. It’s also the start of a season where there’s plenty of excitement around the program, something it hasn’t seen in three years.

&uot;I’m excited, and the community is excited,&uot; Tensas head coach Chris Jacobs said. &uot;We never had a fall athletic fund-raiser, and we had one this year. We had a big to-do at the stadium, raised a lot of money and had a lot of people to come out. The boys are going to have to be ready. We’ve got one of the toughest schedules we’ve ever had.&uot;