Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

CLEVELAND — It was the Coleman Carter and Jordan Berry show last Friday night as they led the No. 10 seed Adams County Christian School Rebels to a 49-21 upset win over the Bayou Academy Colts in the first round of the 2023 MAIS Class 4A State Playoffs.

Carter, a junior quarterback, did it with his arm and with his legs, making would-be tackles miss and throwing good passes to his receivers. He completed 10 of 17 passes for 229 yards with four touchdowns and, just as importantly, no turnovers. He also had 11 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns.

His main target in the passing game was Berry, a senior wide receiver who had six catches for 131 yards and three touchdowns — all of them during a back-and-forth first half in which neither team could pull away from the other.

Carter connected with Berry on a 61-yard TD pass and Carter’s two-point conversion run gave the Rebels an 8-0 lead at the 8:49 mark of the first quarter. After John Howard Gilbert threw a 43-yard TD pass to Adien Borganelli and Borganelli added the two-point conversion run tied the game at 8-all with 4:03 to go in the opening quarter, Carter hooked up with Berry again, this time on a 32-yard scoring pass with 1:32 left to give ACCS a 14-8 lead.

Gilbert could have easily broken the Rebels’ backs with his 95-yard touchdown run at the 5:51 mark of the second quarter that gave the Colts a 15-14 lead, but it didn’t take long for the Rebels to respond as Carter ran in from two yards out for a 20-15 lead.

Gilbert then returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown for a 22-21 Bayou Academy (7-4) lead with 2:04 left until halftime. But Carter threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Berry with 59 seconds left until the break, giving the Rebels a 28-21 halftime lead.

It was all ACCS in the second half. Carter threw a 36-yard TD pass to Damion Johnson nearly midway through the third quarter. Berry then picked off a pass from Gilbert and returned it 58 yards for another touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and Carter ran up the middle on a 72-yard TD run with 7:00 left in the game.

Johnson had three receptions for 83 yards and one touchdown as well as five tackles on defense. Riley Roach and Sean Kerry Cothern led the defense with eight tackles each while Braden Poole had six tackles and one sack. Parker Roach had one interception.

ACCS (9-3) will travel to McComb to take on No. 2 seed and District 3-5A rival Parklane Academy, led by head coach Ron Rushing, in a quarterfinals match-up next Friday at 7 p.m.