NATCHEZ &045; Playing a football game for the first time in two weeks because of Hurricane Katrina didn’t appear to bother the Adams Christian Rebels Friday night.

In fact, the Rebels probably played their best and most complete game of the season with an offense that piled up 281 yards on the ground and a defense that recovered five fumbles en route to a 42-8 win in the District 3-AA opener for both teams.

&uot;They were very focused,&uot; Rebels assistant coach Rusty McPhate said. &uot;We challenged them to play hard. They played with focus and effort on every play.&uot;

Brock Vines led the way on offense as he scored on four touchdown runs, three of them in the first half as the Rebels (3-0, 1-0) jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead.

&uot;We came out and tired to do what we do best and that’s run the ball,&uot; McPhate said.

Vines finished with 74 yards rushing on 17 carries and had touchdown runs of two and seven yards in the first quarter, 30 in the second quarter and three in the third quarter.

Tel Faulkner had a three-yard touchdown late in the first quarter and before the Spartans (1-3, 0-1) knew what hit them, the Rebels were up 21-0.

Most of those early touchdowns were set up by a tenacious defense that not only forced fumbles, but recovered them as well.

&uot;We played real good defense,&uot; McPhate said. &uot;They forced turnovers at opportune times. The defensive line pressured them all night long.&uot;

Matt Barnes led the defense with 12 tackles &045; six solo and six assists &045; and had one fumble recovery.

The only thing that went wrong for ACCS was on the opening kickoff of the third quarter. It was supposed to have been an onside kick, McPhate noted. But it wasn’t and a Prairie View player picked it up and ran it back for a touchdown.

Vines’ fourth touchdown of the game capped off a 65-yard drive gave the Rebels a 35-6 lead.

Backup quarterback Brian Sanderson scored on a 71-yard run on a bootleg in the fourth quarter.

&uot;Our second-team offense did a great job for us,&uot; McPhate said.

Briarfield 20, Tensas 14

LAKE PROVIDENCE, La. &045; Jamie Fortenberry threw two touchdown passes, including the game-winning 25-yard pass to John Taylor as time expired to give the Rebels the win in the District 7-A opener for the Chiefs.

&uot;It was a heck of a game,&uot; Chiefs head coach Chris Jacobs said.

Indeed it was as the game went back and forth between the two teams before Briarfield (3-1, 2-0) won the game in the waning seconds.

Tensas (1-2, 0-1) scored first on a 20-yard touchdown run by Mike McWilliams in the first quarter. Briarfield then took a 13-6 lead when Hal Schneider scored on a two-yard run in the second quarter and Fortenberry threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Landroneau in the third for a 14-7 lead.

Claiborne 37, WCCA 14

WOODVILLE &045; The Rams hung tough with the No. 3 team in Class A for a quarter and a half, but the Rebels put the game away with 24 points in the span of 44 seconds late in the second quarter.

WCCA (1-2) scored first on a 2-yard run by Eli Ashley that was set up by a 71-yard pass from Colin Dore’ to Sean Venezia.

Claiborne (3-1) scored late in the first quarter on a Dedrick Ridley 4-yard run and then nearly midway through the second quarter on a 2-yard run by Kyle Holloway to take a 13-6 lead.

But Venezia struck again, this time taking the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. The extra point by Dore’ gave the Rams a 14-13 lead with 6:12 to go until halftime.

Huntington 47, Franklin Academy 6

FERRIDAY, La. &045; Huntington won its third straight game Friday night, and coach Chad Harkins said it’s the first time since 1971 that Huntington has started 3-0.

&uot;I think our players are aware that it’s been a while since Huntington was in this position,&uot; Harkins said. &uot;Hopefully we can win a few more. It’s definitely something for them to be proud of.&uot;

Fullback Ricky Dunbar scored on touchdown runs of 4, 7, 23 and 12 yards &045; finishing with 103 yards on 12 carries.

It marked the third different back to lead the Hounds in rushing in as many games this season, as Dunbar followed the performances of Huston Eliser and Jody Cottongin.

&uot;I think we’re doing a decent job of getting the ball in several backs’ hands,&uot; Harkins said.

Huntington’s defense got things started in the first quarter when Stan Hazlip blocked a punt, setting up Dunbar’s 4-yard TD run.

Hazlip also caught a 52-yard touchdown from Hunter Norwood, and Eliser return an interception 37 yards for a touchdown.

Ples Arthur led the Huntington defense with six solo tackles and one assist, while Dunbar added four solos and five assists.

Centreville-Columbia Academy postponed

CENTREVILLE &045; Due to the damage done by Hurricane Katrina in the town of the Columbia, the MPSA District 4-AA game between the Centreville Tigers and the Columbia Academy Cougars has been postponed. No make-up date has been set.