Friday’s Midsouth Association of Independent Schools Class AAAA semifinal matchup between Kirk Academy (7-5) and Adams County Christian School (9-2) and is a con-trasting tale of two teams and how they arrived at this point.
The Kirk Raiders football program last found themselves at this point back in 2008. They were coached by Scott Martin and advanced to the Class AAA finals only to lose a 28-10 decision to Centreville Academy in a game played at East Rankin Academy. Since that year, Kirk hasn’t recorded a winning season until this year.
Adams County Christian, however, moved down to Class AAAA this season after the past two seasons in Class AAAAA. It was just a season ago that the Rebels played for the state title only to lose a 10-0 decision to Leake Academy. In the last eight years, ACCS has won six district championships,
The two schools meet for the first time ever Friday night in Natchez with a trip to the Class AAAA title game at Jackson Academy available to the winner. For Kirk Academy, Coach Mike Beagle knows of the challenge facing his team in the Rebels.
“Our guys have matured a lot since last year,” Beagle said. “They look at what we have done and are not ready to be done yet. Our guys are not overwhelmed and are focused on the task ahead.”
Kirk is coming off a 45-38 overtime win at Brookhaven last week while Adams County Christian School downed Riverfield (La.) 41-7. Beagle knows the challenge is a big one for his squad.
“They are a really big football team upfront on both sides,” he said. “They have a center that is 300 pounds and a defensive end that comes in a 6-4, 290. Skill-player wise, they will have more of them than we have faced all season.”
The second-year Raiders coach see some of the same keys to the game that he saw last week.
“Obviously, we can’t allow any big plays,” Beagle said. “I feel like whoever wins the field position battle will go a long way to determining the winner. As an offense, we need to be able to control some of the clock.”
Dan King is in his 10th season at ACCS. He knows that his team needs to be balanced on the offensive side to be successful.
“We have a big and physical football team,” King said. “It’s the biggest team I’ve coached.”
Balance is something that King knows his team needs to do to win the contest.
“To be successful, we know we need to be balanced, running and throwing the football,” he said. “We feel like we have been able to do that most of the season.”
Sophomore running back J.J. Clayburn (5-9, 210) leads the offense. Coleman Carter, a freshman, has been solid at quarterback. The Rebels sport a pair of Southern Miss commits in Cameron Barnes and Kyron Barnes, both 6-foot-4, 300 pounds.
Nevertheless, King knows his team faces a big challenge from the Raiders.
“Kirk is hot at the right time and have that ability to win close games, which concerns us,” King concluded. “Offensively, No. 2 (senior tailback A.J. Wren) and No. 33 (sophomore tailback Theron Hubbard) are solid running backs. Their quarterback Senior Colbert Hath-cock does an outstanding job of throwing the football and making plays with his feet. De-fensively, they are fundamentally sound at what they do.”
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. The winner plays the winner Greenville St. Joseph and Tri-County next Friday night at Jackson Academy.
