By Patrick Jones and Patrick Murphy

NATCHEZ — The forecast for heavy rain on Friday has led some local and area head football coaches to move up their high school football games to tonight.

All games that were rescheduled from Friday night to tonight are also road games with first place between two teams in MHSAA Region 7-3A at stake.

The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) District 3-5A game between the Adams County Christian School Rebels and the Central Hinds Academy Cougars in Raymond will take place at 7 p.m. today. A win will give ACCS second place in the district and probably a good seed in the Class 5A Playoffs.

Rebels Head Coach David King said it doesn’t really matter if the game was moved up.

“We’re pretty beat up right now,” King said. “I have never made excuse in my life, but I don’t know how many kids we have to sit out tomorrow. We have possibly seven starters who have to sit the thing out due to injuries. One more day wasn’t going to help us, so we will go there and finish out the regular season on the best note we can.”

On the Rebels’ injured list, DJ Stampley, Blake LePrairie and V. J. Knight are all out due to high-ankle sprains injuries. Austin Blanton is out with a knee injury while Tripp Cotton strained his Achilles during practice. Also, Glaston Maggee and Garren Patt are both in bed sick with strep throat and Cody Brown has been out for the last two weeks.

“Besides those seven, we’re kind of healthy,” King said. “We’re like everyone else. We need the next man to step up. We’re not complaining and just stating that we’re in an unknown situation here because we want to win the game desperately. Right now, I don’t know what to expect tomorrow night. I have been coaching for 22 years and I have never had injuries like this.”

The Rebels will play in the MAIS playoffs on Nov. 1. King said it’s a good thing about playing the game now because it gives the Rebels one more day to heal before the playoffs.

Delta Charter School’s pivotal LHSAA District 2-1A game against the St. Frederick High School Warriors in Monroe, La. will also have a 7 p.m. kickoff today. The resurgent Storm is on a three-game winning streak and is currently tied for second place with Oak Grove High School and Cedar Creek School at 3-1 while the Warriors (4-3 overall) are at 2-2.

Jefferson County High School (4-4 overall) will travel to Hazlehurst to take on the Hazlehurst High School Indians (3-5 overall) with kickoff at 7 p.m. Both teams are 2-0 in Region 7-3A. The Tigers were off last week while the Indians defeated Wilkinson County High School 41-22.

Wilkinson County High School (2-7 overall) travels to Port Gibson to take on the Port Gibson High School Blue Waves (1-8, 0-2) at 7 p.m. in another Region 7-3A game. A win would put the Wildcats at 2-2 in region play and would assure them of a playoff berth.