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The Simpson Academy Cougars made the long trip to Natchez, with a playoff appearance secured, to take on the Rebels of Adams County Christian. A win would have guaranteed the Cougars a home playoff game. A 16-point win would have added another District title to the many already in the Cougars’ trophy case. Instead with the loss, the Cougars are the 9th seed in the MAIS AAA playoffs and will face district foe, Columbia, in the first round.
ACCS managed to score the only points of the first half. No points were scored by either offense during the first 24 minutes of play. Instead, the Rebels intercepted the Cougars pass on the third play of the opening series, then sprinted 16 yards to the end zone for a touchdown.
Later, in the second quarter, ACCS special teams stole the show. The Rebels took the Simpson punt 84 yards for their second score of the night. Heading into halftime, the Rebels held a 14-0 lead, and the game looked as if it would be a defensive battle.
Instead, the third quarter turned into a track meet, with each team scoring multiple times, oftentimes on long scoring plays. In all, 47 points were scored in the third quarter alone.
ACCS struck first with a 12 yard run. Two minutes later, Kyle Burney struck back with a 70 yard run down the Cougar sideline, shucking off a would be tackler at the 20 on his way to the end zone.
Adams answered back with two passing touchdowns on successive series, scoring from 29 yards and 50 yards respectively.
Cook Weathersby managed to score from 8 yards out for the Cougars to answer the Rebels’ scores. Weathersby and Dylan Hallman provided new wrinkles to the Simpson offense with both getting multiple carries and providing the team with some hard-earned yardage.
ACCS answered once again, this time with a 23 yard run with 14 seconds left in the third. On the ensuing kickoff, Kyle Burney provided a magnificent return, with incredible speed, racing 95 yards to the other end of the field for the score. The Cougars went for two and were unsuccessful.
Unfortunately for the Cougars, ACCS managed to answer once again, this time racing 46 yards for a score in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Kyle Burney responded once again with another touchdown, this time from 3 yards out. This final score led to the final score of the ballgame, ACCS 48, Simpson 27.
Grycen Scott kept the Rebels from another score, earlier in the ballgame. As the snap sailed past him, Grycen managed to field the ball, elude the Rebels charge and get off a 49-yard punt. What looked like a sure safety, ended up pinning the Rebels at midfield.
The Cougar defense, despite the score, played well and they played tough through out the ball game. Daniel and Thomas Pepper each recorded their own sacks during the game with some ferocious hits behind the line of scrimmage. Daniel and Caleb Garner led the team with 5 tackles each. Daniel also recorded 3 tackles for a loss.
Next up for the Cougars is a playoff game against Columbia Academy. The Cougars will travel south to take on this familiar foe. Cougar fans will remember that it was three weeks ago when Columbia arrived in Mendenhall and managed to defeat the Cougars by a score of 20-6, for their first victory against Simpson in 21 years. The Cougars had multiple opportunities to close the scoring gap, thanks to 4 trips into the Columbia red zone. Each time the Cougars were unable to put any points on the board.
The game pits the #8 and #9 seeds together in what should be a very competitive high school football game. The game will take place in Columbia at 7:00 pm. The Cougars will hold a special pep rally earlier that day, at 1:00 on the Simpson football field. This will give the Cougars a chance to recognize their senior football players, cheerleaders and dance team members, as well as an opportunity for Simpson fans to express their gratitude to these outstanding student athletes.
