Leake claims district win over Simpson

After a big win over Union nearly two weeks ago, the Leake Academy Rebels opened district play last week at rival Simpson Academy.

The Rebels fell behind early but scored the last 16 points of the game and shut out the Cougars in the second half to take a 23-14 win over Simpson on Friday night.

Leake improves to 4-1 on the season and will host Park Place on Friday night in another district contest.

Leake coach Brian Pickens said he knew Simpson would give their best shot.

“It was a game that we knew was going to be a physical football game,” Pickens said. “They came out and gave us some things we hadn’t seen them do and scored. We were able to answer their first two scores and that was huge. From there, our defense was lights out. We were able to make our adjustments on defense and were able to weather that storm.”

The Cougars got the ball to open the game and immediately went to marching down the field on the Rebels. The Cougars went 14 plays as Brentley Berry hit Matt Adcock on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 4:44 left in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.

The Rebels quickly answered. They went 62 yards in 10 plays. After a pair of big gainers by Whitt Welch, Rhett Atkinson called his own number on an one-yard touchdown run with 1:19 left in the first quarter. Cole Arthur hit the PAT and Leake tied the score at 7-7.

The Cougars answered right back as Berry hit Sawyer Dunn on a short pass that the wide receiver turned into a 60-yard touchdown on the last play of the first quarter. The PAT was good and Simpson held a 14-7 lead.

After the two teams swapped punts, Leake pulled back even with a quick four-play, 74-yard drive. After Atkinson hit Riley Myers on a 27-yard pass to convert on fourth down, the junior quarterback called his own number and raced 45 yards for a touchdown with 6:54 left in the second quarter. Arthur hit the PAT and Leake tied the game at 14-14.

The Rebels got the ball right back after short punt by Simpson. But the Rebels missed a 36-yard field goal with 4:09 left in the half.

The Cougars went three and out and again had a short punt that went just 10 yards, giving Leake the ball at the Simpson 35. After Atkinson hit Aiden Watkins on a big 28-yard pass, the junior quarterback again called his own number and scored on a 1-yard run with 1:29 left in the half. The PAT failed and Leake held a 20-14 lead at the half.

The only points of the second half came midway through the fourth quarter. The Rebels put together an 11-play drive and finished off with a 27-yard field goal by Arthur with 8:27 left in the game to give Leake a 23-14 lead.

The Cougars appeared to get another touchdown on the board on an 87-yard pass but it was called back after a block in the back. Simpson still drove down in the Leake red zone but came up short on a fourth-and-12 pass with 4:45 left in the game.

Leake was then able to run the clock out with the help of a roughing the kicker call.

The Rebels had 326 yards of total offense with 236 yards rushing.

Canon Parks led the offense with 123 yards on 24 carries while Atkinson had 82 yards on nine carries with three TDs. Whitt Welch had 36 yards rushing on eight carries.

Aiden Watkins had 42 yards receiving on two catches while Riley Myers had 28 yards on two catches.

On defense, Bryce Watkins led the Rebels with eight solo tackles and four assists with 2 and a half tackles for loss. Ethan Dunn had five solo tackles and five assists while Nick Gomillion had five solo tackles and four assists. Riley Myers had four solo tackles and four assists while Jake Brown had three solo tackles and two assist. Kade Marble also had two solo tackles and two assists. 

The Rebels will return home and host Park Place Friday night in another district contest.

The Crusaders are 3-2 on the season. They opened with a 40-26 win over St. Aloysius and then beat East Rankin 41-8 and Wayne 19-16 last week. They lost 35-34 to Central Hinds and 47-14 to Natchez Cathedral. The two teams didn’t play last year when Park Place was forced to forfeit because of Covid.

“Park Place is a scary team because they have really good skill players,” Pickens said. “Most of those guys have been starting for three years and are really good players. And they are very aggressive on defense and come after you.”