Rebels take big district win over Lamar

 The Leake Academy Rebels remained undefeated as they slipped past Lamar School 26-25 in a big district game last Friday night in Meridian.

The Rebels now stand at 3-0 and 1-0 in the district standings. They host Hartfield Academy Friday night with a 7 p.m. kickoff. Hartfield also stands at 3-0. Last week, they beat Park Place Christian 51-28.

Leake Academy jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Whitt Welch scored the Rebels’ first touchdown on a one-yard run. Then quarterback Whitt Welch passed to Levi Brown on a five-yard TD pass play. Cole Arthur kicked both extra points and the Rebels led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Lamar came back with two touchdowns of its own in the second quarter. The Raiders scored on a 46-yard TD pass play and an eight-yard run. The second extra point kick failed and the Rebels led 14-13 at the half.

Atkinson connected with Brown again, this time from 23 yards out. The extra point kick was blocked and the Rebels led 20-13.

The Raiders answered with a 45-yard TD pass play. They went for two, which failed, and trailed 20-19 with 5:05 left in the third quarter,

Lamar took the lead with 9:58 left in the fourth quarter on a five-yard run. The try for two failed and Lamar led 25-20.

Leake Academy retook the lead when Whitt Welch scored on a six-yard run with 1:24 left on the clock. The try for two failed and the Rebels went on to win the game, 26-25.

Leake Academy finished with 391 total yards and 26 first downs. The Rebels rushed for 189 yards on 43 carries, and completed 13-of-23 passes for 202 yards. Leake Academy lost one fumble and had eight penalties for 60 yards.

Lamar finished with 334 total yards and 21 first downs. They had 32 rushes for 183 yards and completed 8-of-13 passes for 151 yards, The Raiders were penalized five times for 65 yards and had one turnover, a fumble,

Welch was the leading rusher, gaining 131 yards on 31 carries. Atkinson rushed 11 times fir 57 yards. He had all of Leake Academy’s passing yards, giving him 259 total yards,

Brown had four catches for 38 yards. Thomas Cheatham had three catches for 93 yards while Riley Myers caught three passes for 63 yards.

Kade Marble and Jarrett Thomas led with nine total tackles while Cheatham had five tackles.