NATCHEZ — The Adams County Christian School Rebels are coming to the end of one of the best soccer seasons in school history, and senior Justin Allgood said he’s hoping they’ll cap the season off with a state title.

The Rebels have turned the soccer program around in just a few years, as they went from a team that was used to getting blown out of the water, to district champions.

Head coach Jimmy Allgood said the improvement is the result of patience and hard work.

“The big difference (this season) is our guys have taken to the sport of soccer with a love and passion of the game,” Jimmy said. “I’ve seen this team come together. Many of the kids may not have understood the game but were just out playing and enjoying it.”

Justin agreed that when he first joined the soccer team in eighth grade, it was just about fun.

“We were just out there just to play,” Justin said. “We didn’t know what we were doing. Our players are being smarter with what to do with the ball now. As you grow older, you gain more experience. We all played for a good long time and we’re experienced now.”

The Rebels are 15-1-1 as they prepare for the MAIS Class AA South State playoffs, where they will host the first two rounds as the No. 1 seed.

“Right now, we’re using a key term, ‘It’s go time,’” Jimmy said. “Our guys have to be on their A-game because it’s win or sack the balls up until next year.”

Though Jimmy said the Rebels are excited to have home-field advantage, they have hit a few obstacles in the past few weeks in their preparation for the big stage.

“If it’s not snowing, it’s raining or a game gets canceled,” he said. “The weather and practicing conditions have thrown us a major curve ball these past few weeks. So we just have to work around it.

“No matter what, it’s time to turn up the volume. The intensity level from here on out has to stay at maximum level.”

Justin said he and the seniors have talked extensively about how they’re going to make a run in the playoffs.

“We talked about what the other district teams will throw at us (in the playoffs),” he said. “We’ve talked about what formations to run and set pieces to annihilate their strong points.”

But though the Rebels are gearing up to upset some powerhouse soccer programs, Justin said the ACCS community must play a big part in it.

“Last year, the headmaster (David King) let everyone out of class to let them watch one of our games,” Justin said. “Having the student body there to watch us play was a big momentum change for us. The momentum that they bring to the field helps us.”

The Rebels play their first playoff game Monday.