Rebels will have to tackle depth challenge against Oak Forest

Published 2:32 pm Wednesday, August 25, 2021

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NATCHEZ — Coming off an impressive 46-21 win over the Brookhaven Academy Cougars last Friday night, the Adams County Christian School Rebels will look to improve to 2-0 on the young season when it travels to Amite, La. to take on the Oak Forest Academy Yellow Jackets.

Kickoff between ACCS (1-0) and Oak Forest (1-0) is set for 7 p.m. Friday. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Class 6A Parklane Academy Pioneers and new head coach Ron Rushing on the road 35-0 last Friday night.

“Oak Forest is outstanding. This is the best Oak Forest team they’ve had in a long time. We’re going to have to work on everything (in practice this week),” ACCS head coach David King said. “We upset them the last three times we’ve played them. We’re going to have to be as sharp as we can to stay with them. They’re that good.

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It will indeed be a contrast in styles on offense as ACCS will mix the pass with the run while Oak Forest relies exclusively on its running attack. The Rebels racked up 410 yards on the ground while freshman quarterback Coleman Carter went 11-for-16 passing for 228 yards with three touchdowns and just one interception while their defense held the Cougars to just 131 total yards of offense.

The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, had 433 rushing yards and did not attempt a single pass in their shutout win over Parklane.

The Rebels’ rushing attack was led by J.J. Claiborne, who had over 100 yards rushing before he started cramping up in the second half.

Oak Forest’s Reece Wolfe had 125 rushing yards, Caleb Muse had 119 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown, Scott White had 84 yards and one rushing TD, and Lawson Hendry had 67 yards and two rushing scores.

King said his younger players played well, his assistant coaches did a good job getting them ready for play, and the senior leadership was outstanding last week against what he said was a good Cougars team.

“We had some younger players, a lot of freshmen and sophomores, play in key positions. We were able to do some things against (Brookhaven Academy). We’re not going to have that many advantages against Oak Forest,” King said.

King added that because the Rebels are a Class 4A team and the Yellow Jackets are a Class 5A team, depth is going to be an issue.

“They’re deep, deep. We’re thin in some spots. With our schedule, we’re going to have to win the games that we’re not supposed to win. This is one of those chances that we have,” King said.

As for what concerns him the most about Oak Forest, King said, “They’re well-coached. They’re physical. They’re deep. And they’re going to be hungry to beat us, I can promise you. We beat them the last three times under unusual circumstances.”

King said the what pleased him the most about last week’s win was the overall attitude of the team, which he described as “outstanding.”

“They’re a tight-knit group. That’s was pleased me the most was they played together. We need to improve on our conditioning. I need to do a better job as the head coach. Other than that, I think we’re on the right track,” King said.