NATCHEZ — One night after strong thunderstorms rolled through Adams County, a different kind of lightning struck Adams County Christian’s Bobby Marks Stadium Friday night.

That lightning came in the form of ACCS running back Brandon Sanders, who scored two touchdowns on his first two carries in the first half, and another touchdown on his first carry in the second half, as part of a 53-14 pounding of Riverdale Academy at ACCS’ homecoming.

The Rebels finished with 369 yards rushing, with Sanders accounting for 207 of those yards.

“Tonight was a good night for us,” ACCS head coach Paul Hayles said. “We had some early success on some big plays.

“They’re a quick-strike team, and we were able to slow them down. Anytime you can do that, (you’ll get) good results.”

Hayles credited wide open running lanes as a major cog in Sanders’ impressive evening.

“He had good blocking. He didn’t get but maybe one or two hands on him on a couple of those long runs, and anytime you get blocking like that, life’s pretty good.”

After ACCS stopped Riverdale on its opening possession, Sanders tallied a 50-yard touchdown run with 9:05 to go in the first quarter on ACCS’ first play of the game. His second touchdown run was for 76 yards, with 6:22 left in the first.

On the opening play for ACCS in the second half, Sanders ran his final touchdown of the night on a 54-yard carry with 11:47 to go in the third.

Sanders wasn’t the only ACCS player to score multiple touchdowns. Rusty Blackwell scored two touchdowns for ACCS in the second quarter, both on 3-yard carries. ACCS’ Kent Yates added an 11-yard touchdown carry with a minute left before halftime.

Following Sanders’ run in the third quarter, ACCS’ Justin Hicks had a 3-yard touchdown carry with 7:12 left in the third.

The final ACCS touchdown of the game came on a 57-yard interception return by Bryce Murray, who finished with three interceptions on the night.

Riverdale managed just two touchdowns the entire evening, one o a 36-yard reception by Alex Shelton in the first quarter, and the other on a 4-yard carry by Andrew Driggers in the fourth quarter.

Hayles had a lot of good things to say about his offensive line following the game.

“(They’re our) unsung heroes,” Hayles said. “Those guys bleed, sweat and do more grunt work than anybody, and they get no recognition. My hat (goes) off to them. They’ve done a great job all year.”

From the second ACCS touchdown in the third quarter onward, Hayles ordered his players to take a knee on the PAT.

“When you have control of the ball game, it’s not about the score, it’s about sportsmanship,” Hayles said.