The wait is over.
After 13 consecutive losses, the North Sunflower Academy Rebels are back in the win column following last Friday’s 36-16 victory over visiting Delta Streets Academy of Greenwood.
Using a balanced offensive attack which accumulated 360 yards of offense, the Rebels bolted to a 22-8 halftime lead and never looked back.
“We played well,” said new NSA Head Coach Jimmy McGregor. “I am really proud of the kids. We have been working hard these past two weeks on developing mental toughness, being more aggressive, and running the ball harder. They responded well to it and made it pay off.”
The opportunity to earn two victories in a row arrives at 7 p.m. this Friday when the Rebels travel to West Memphis, Arkansas to take on the West Memphis Christian School Black Knights.
“What I do know about West Memphis is they like to spread you out and throw it,” said Coach McGregor. “We will have to address that and play our game.”
The Black Knights will be looking for their initial win of the season after falling last week by a 62-0 score to powerful Manchester Academy of Yazoo City.
This Friday’s non-district game with the Arkansas school has the Rebels playing a team which completed the 2018 season with an 8-4 record and a semi-final appearance in the eight man football playoffs.
The last time NSA and WMCS met on a football field was in 2006 and the Black Knights own a 2-1 series advantage over the Rebels.
In last Friday’s win over Delta Streets Academy, the Rebels used their ground game to score all three of their first half touchdowns.
It would be Riley Johnson who would record NSA’s first touchdown of the new season as the junior plunged in from two yards out with the score. The junior then added a two point conversion run, the first of three he recorded in the contest.
This initial score was then followed by a pair of 16 yard scoring runs by quarterback Jacob Henley to enable the Rebels to earn their 22-8 halftime lead.
Although the Lions tallied their final points of the game in the third period, the Rebels matched them with a 25 scoring sprint by Johnson.
The game’s final touchdown occurred in the fourth period when Henley found senior Parker Beck behind the Lions defense for a 60 yard touchdown pass.
Offensively, the Rebels’ 200 yard rushing effort in the contest was aided by a 120 yard passing performance.
Leading the ground game was Henley’s 90 yard, two touchdown effort while Johnson added 80 yards and another pair of touchdowns.
Through the air, Henley completed five of his seven pass attempts with Beck (60 yards) and Stephen Chamblee (40 yards) pulling in one pass apiece. Dakota Dawson also gathered in three passes which added another 20 yards of offense.
