JUNIOR REBELS

from Football Preview 2022

by Natchez Democrat

MR. DEPENDABLE

HUNTER CLOUD | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT

Adrian Walker celebrates a touchdown in a junior varsity game against Riverfield in 2021. ACCS won its third straight JV District Championship that year.

WHERE A CHAMPIONSHIP FOUNDATION IS BUILT

BY HUNTER CLOUD | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT

NATCHEZ — Adams County Christian School’s Junior High Head Coach Matthew Freeman watched the future of Rebel football work underneath the sweltering July sun. The seventh- through ninth-graders comprise the JV team, which is building on a legacy of success.

AC has won three straight JV district championships and is gearing up for a run at another title. They went undefeated last year after being put into a new district; typically the district changes every two years.

Ninth-graders Sean Kerry Cothern, Brandy Sullivan and Preston Anderson have a goal of winning a championship this year and every season they are with the varsity team. Freeman said it’s good the kids don’t lack confidence.

“It’s good they think our program will always win. They don’t accept losing,” Freeman said. “ It is good to have a program where they have the belief. As coaches, we expect to win and they should too.”

AC has an expectation to win because they have not had a losing season since their 2012 season. David King became the head coach of AC’s high school team in 2013 after his 14 year career at Trinity Epsicopal Day School.

His program’s success starts with the

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development of younger players. Freeman, who played for King at Trinity, said everything he teaches is based on what he learned from King. Junior Varsity is a way for players to get their feet wet and develop a base layer of football knowledge before going to high school.

He said if the players can learn the basics now it will help them be ahead when they get to the high school level. AC’s scheme and program is continuous from junior varsity to varsity. The cultural expectations are the same too.

This spring, King listed out his expectations for the varsity team, how players should dress, how they should carry themselves, how they should take care of their bodies. Freeman did the same in the last week of July.

“From day one it is about the culture and we learn the rules,” Sullivan said. “Coaches have told us throughout the years what they expect and it has just carried on. I have learned a lot about respect in my time here.”

Respect for teammates, respect for coaches and respect for opponents are big in AC’s culture. King and his assistant coaches expect their players to remain humble, to watch out for each other and to follow directions.

The Rebel culture is taught by the upperclassmen, Anderson said. Tristan Burns and Adrian Walker were all ninth-graders last year who led the seventh- and eighth-graders. Connor Aplin and Samuel Merriett would have taught Burns and Walker the same values and were juniors last year. Colin Cauthen was a senior last year and likely would have taught Aplin and Merriett.

“JV is about leadership and about encouragement. It is just like a family, a brotherhood,” Anderson said. “We build from here because we start off young. We build the relationship together and we get stronger. We know we have to work for success. Nothing here comes easy.”

Last season, Burns, Peterson and Coleman Carter played significant minutes on the varsity football team as freshmen. Carter did not play with the JV team but Peterson and Burns played a crucial role in their success.

Freeman said it is important to get any ninth-grader they can to play up because it helps the varsity and JV teams. Freshmen from the JV team typically play on special teams with kickoffs and punt returns to give the upperclassmen breaks.

He said when the freshmen practice and play with both the JV and varsity they gain confidence.

“They get more motivated and then they pick up more on the details. They see how the varsity guys play,” Freeman said. “They learn techniques from their older teammates. JV’s speed of the game is slower than varsity so varsity experience helps with their athletic ability and decision making.”

Sullivan says their goal over the next four seasons is to be division leaders, make the playoffs and win multiple rings. The football season begins this fall on Thursday nights but their journey starts with summer practices. Cothern said players and coaches push them to get better each and every day.

“We plan to play by each other through high school,” Cothern said. “We always try to win the championship and we like to push each other. We have learned how to pick each other up and even at times the other team. We like to work as hard as we can each day and get better.”