Rebels defeat Simpson County Academy 45-36

Leake Academy football coach Brian Pickens knew beating Simpson County Academy twice in a season would be difficult.

He was right to be concerned.

The Rebels needed 341 yards passing and four TDs from George Wilcox to hold off Simpson 45-36 on Friday night in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Leake improves to 8-3 on the season and will travel to Magnolia Heights on Friday night.

Pickens said the Rebels were able to survive and advance despite not playing their best game.

“We didn’t play very clean on defense and they gave us some fits on offense but we found a way to win and that’s all that really matters this time of year,s1`” Pickens said. “We were able to hit some big plays in the passing game. George made some big throws and really stretched their defense. They committed more people to the box this week and slowed down the run game but that opened up some holes on the backside. We knew they would give us some different looks after we beat them the last time. But I give our kids a lot of credit for finding a way to win even though they didn’t play their best. But it’s survive and advance at this point and you are going to get everyone’s best shot in the playoffs.”

After forcing Simpson to punt on its first possession, the Rebels put together a 13-play drive but had to settle for 27-yard field goal with 4:23 left in the first period for an early 3-0 lead.

Simpson then found a hole in the middle of the Leake defense and scored on a 65-yard touchdown. The PAT failed and the Cougars led 6-3.

After forcing a Leake punt, Simpson drove to the Leake 16 before turning the ball over on downs. The Rebels were forced to punt again and Simpson again drove deep in Leake territory before Jack Harkins ended the threat with an interception.

Leake then hit a big play in the passing game as Wilcox hit Matthan Weaver on a 53-yard touchdown pass with 6:16 left in the second quarter.. Matthew Nowell hit the PAT and Leake led 10-6, a score that lasted to halftime.

Leake got the ball to start the second half and hit another big play in the passing game as Wilcox hit Nowell on a 48-yard touchdown pass with 10:14 left in the third. Nowell’s PAT gave the Rebels a 17-6 lead.

Simpson answered back with another big run as the Cougars scored on a 59-yard quarterback keeper. The PAT was good and Leake held a slim 17-13 lead.

Leake answered quickly with another big play as Wilcox hit Nowell on a 77-yard touchdown pass with 5:49 left in the third. Nowell’s PAT gave Leake a 24-13 lead.

After swapping punts, Simpson hit a big play of their own with a 34-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good and Leake held a 24-20 lead with 1:25 left in the third.

The Leake offense stayed hot as Wilcox hit Weaver on a 29-yard pass. Three plays later, Wilcox hit Nowell on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 11:07 left in the fourth. Nowell’s PAT was good and the Rebels led 31-20.

Leake then forced a punt and the offense continued to move down th4e field as the Rebels went 80 yards in seven plays. After a big 39-yard completion to Nowell, Garrett Adcock scored on a 10-yard run with 6:36 left in the fourth. Nowell’s PAT gave the Rebels a 38-20 lead.

But the Cougars got a big play from the kicking game and returned the ensuing kick 95 yards for a touchdown. The try for two was good and the Rebels held a 38-28 lead.

The Rebels then put the game away behind a strong rushing attack. After receiving an onside attempt from Simpson, Leake went 51 yards in eight plays as Wilcox scored on a 2-yard run with 2:07 left in the game. Nowell’s PAT gave Leake a 45-28 lead.

Simpson added a late score and two-point conversion to cut the score to 45-36 but the Rebels recovered the onside attempt and knelt out the clock to take the win.

The Rebels had another big night on the offensive side, throwing for 341 yards and rushing for 160 yards for 501 yards of total offense.

Adcock had 92 yards rushing on 24 carries with one TD while Wilcox had 44 yards on nine carries. Weaver had 22 yards on four carries.

Wilcox was 17-of-22 passing for 341 yards with four TDs. Nowell had five catches for 193 and three TDs while Weaver had 144 yards on 10 catches.

On defense, Brayden Welch led the defense with 9.5 tackles while Tyler Winstead and Coby Kemp each had five tackles.

The Rebels advance in the Class 5A playoffs as they will hit the road and travel to Magnolia Heights in Senatobia. It’s the first time in school history that the two program have met in football.

The Chiefs are 10-2 on the season and coming off a 31-21 win over Lamar in second-round action last week. Their lone two losses came to Madison-Ridgeland Academy (63-10) and Northpoint Christian (20-0). They have wins over North Delta (56-20), Lee (41-31), Marshall (13-0), Tupelo Christian (35-0), Bayou (28-14), Greenville St. Joseph (35-24), Heritage (35-28), Pillow (31-10) and Starkville (23-21).

“They have a really good quarterback who is their main guy,” Pickens said. “He’s committed to Ole Miss in baseball but is a really good football player. If they need a big play, the ball is in his hands. We will have to play better on defense than we did last week and try to contain him. Coach (Russ) Whiteside has done a good job with them. We’re excited to still be playing.”