McAdams football coach Kenneth Nelson avoided being thrown into a mud puddle after the Bulldogs' biggest win of the season last fall. His players celebrated a 20-16 victory on a rain-soaked field at Simmons by sliding around in a large puddle, and they attempted to get their coach wet and muddy.
“They were trying to get me and throw me in the water. I said I'm not doing that, so they grabbed me. You're talking about 10 kids grabbing a big old 300-pound coach and trying to throw him in the water.”
Nelson managed to stay dry and clean. “They didn't get me.”
Coming off a 36-6 homecoming loss to West Tallahatchie, McAdams stood at 2-3 in Region 3-1A, with three games left and no margin for error if the Bulldogs were to make the 1A playoffs.
“You never want to lose your homecoming game and we felt like we could win the game. We were deflated.” Nelson said. “That whole week was the hardest week of coaching in my whole life trying to get the kids motivated to play another district game. It was tough.”
Simmons was next, a team that reached the 1A state championship game the previous four years. It did not look good at the half with the Bulldogs trailing 16-0.
“I told the guys at halftime just do your job and believe in what you are supposed to be doing.”
Nelson said the turning point was an interception by Tayveon Rimmer early in the second quarter. The Bulldogs cashed in when Johnatvis Rimmer ran three yards for a TD, then ran it in for the 2-point conversion, cutting the deficit to 16-8.
A three-yard run by Jalen Perteet made it 16-14, but the Bulldogs still trailed when a 2-point attempt failed. Johnatvis Rimmer provided the winning score. He had a 57-yard run, setting up his quarterback sneak with 1.53 left.
The defense, led by Perteet with 12 tackles, did its job, forcing six turnovers and holding Simmons scoreless in the second half.
“That win turned our program around,” Nelson said. “It was not only a turning point for us athletically, it was a turning point mentally.”
The Bulldogs followed up with victories over Coffeeville 14-6 and Ray Brooks 20-0 to finish fourth in the nine-team region with a 5-3 record. The losses came to the region's top three teams, West Bolivar, Leflore County and West Tallahatchie.
McAdams actually tied with Shaw for fourth, but had the tiebreaker as a result of a 6-0 double overtime victory over the Hawks, thanks to a 10-yard TD scramble by Johnatvis Rimmer. Simmons was next at 4-4.
