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MCCOMB — Adams County Christian School junior quarterback capped off an eight-minute-long, 75-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run with 26 seconds left and his interception at the end of the game preserved the Rebels’ 41-34 upset win over the Parklane Academy Pioneers in the quarterfinals of the 2023 MAIS Class 5A State Playoffs.

In the rematch of their District 3-5A showdown at ACCS during the regular season in which Parklane held on for a 28-26 win, it was the Rebels who this battle. And it was the combination of Carter and fellow junior Adrian Walker who led them to victory.

“Coleman stepped up and had a big game for us. Made some really big throws and made some really big plays with his legs,” ACCS assistant coach Matthew Freeman said. “(Adrian) had a big game running the ball.”

Carter went 11-for-18 passing for 116 yards with one touchdown, a 10-yarder to Damion Johnson with 51 second left in the first quarter to give the Rebels a 14-7 lead at quarter’s end. Carter also had 21 carries for 113 yards and three touchdowns. 

In addition to his game-clinching TD late in the game, he had scoring runs of 10 yards in the first quarter and two yards at the 7:40 mark of the third quarter. And it was his second rushing TD of the game that helped spark ACCS’s comeback.

Parklane senior quarterback Henry Brewer went 15-for-25 passing for 154 yards and two touchdowns, but it was one pass that he would like to have back. With the Pioneers driving for a possible back-breaking touchdown, Brewer was picked off by a leaping Walker, who snagged the ball out of the air with one hand and returned the interception 90 yards for a touchdown with 51 seconds left in the third quarter. Carter’s two-point conversion pass to Jordan Berry gave ACCS a 35-38 lead.

“We were expecting him to throw it. We put Adrian in at defensive line and he made an incredible athletic play. Not many people can do what he did,” Freeman said. “It probably broke their back. It swung the momentum in our favor. He made a big play for his team.”

Brewer did shake that off and threw a two-yard TD pass to Colin Doyle late in the third quarter, but Wyatt Dunn surprisingly missed the extra point and ACCS still led 35-34. Then with the game on the line, the Rebels methodically drove down the field by running the ball and that forced Pioneers head coach Ron Rushing to use his time outs. However, that strategy backfired as ACCS continued to take time off the clock. 

And the Rebels intentionally decided not to run into the end zone until it was fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line. And from there, Coleman lunged the ball across the goal line for a 41-34 lead. But the extra point was blocked, giving Parklane (8-3) one last chance.

The Pioneers moved the ball quickly into Rebels territory, but Brewer’s last throw of the game was picked off by none other than Carter, his counterpart who was brought into the game to play defense.

ACCS (10-3) will be on the road again next Friday at 7 p.m. when it travels to Gallman to take on No. 3 seed Copiah Academy, which defeated No. 6 seed Lamar School.