NATCHEZ — The Adams County Christian soccer program is already seeing growth in its inaugural season.

The ACCS varsity boy’s team tallied its third win of the season last Saturday with a 2-1 victory over district opponent Central Private School.

Lester Wells scored in the first six minutes of the game, and a penalty kick by Johnny Smith later in the game gave ACCS the winning goal. Central Private’s only goal came on an own goal by ACCS’ Justin Allgood.

Head coach Jimmy Allgood said his boys have improved in the passing game, and also said the varsity girls did throughout their season. He also said they must continue to do so if the Rebels want to hang with better-caliber teams.

“The main thing these guys and girls have learned so far is the importance of knowing when to pass the ball against better-caliber players,” Allgood said.

“Controlling the ball on their feet is basically comparable to learning to walk. At this stage, we’re up and walking.”

As the Rebels continue to play in games, Allgood said he’s also noticed that the teamwork between his players has gotten better.

“The dribbling and passing skills have improved, and these kids are learning that communication is key,” Allgood said. “All 11 players must work together on defense, and that creates offense. That’s one of the hurdles we’ve gotten over.”

When looking at the progression of his boy’s and girl’s teams, Allgood said he didn’t expect the teams to make as much progress in year one as they ended up making.

“In our inaugural season, to have won a district match in girls play, and to now have three victories with the boy’s team, that’s awesome in my opinion,” Allgood said.

“For every other coach in our district, boy’s and girl’s coaches, many did not win a match in their first two years. I attribute that to the level of play in the division we’re in. The Jackson-Laurel teams, and schools of that caliber, have a 15-year head start.”

But there’s still a long way to go before the Rebels can be competitive with those teams, Allgood said. And there are still some small things his players have to improve on.

“They have to learn to keep the ball on their foot for more than two touches and make more accurate passes,” Allgood said.

“When these guys play defense, and we’re moving and covering for others, they now have a better understanding of the game.”