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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Alabama Christian Academy notched a last-second touchdown as time expired to beat Maplesville High School 32-29 on Nov. 1. The Red Devils used their last game of the regular season playing a quality, higher classification opponent to prepare for the state playoffs, and head coach Brad Abbott feels like the team learned a lot about themselves in the game.

“It was a good game going into the playoffs, and we would have liked to have won it, but they made the play at the end that counted,” Brad Abbott said. “Our kids went through a lot of things that were challenging last night, and they will learn from it and make them better for the playoffs.”

The Red Devils took an early 13-0 lead with the help of quarterback Pearce Yeargan. Yeargan rushed for a 3-yard touchdown to open the scoring, followed by finding Colby Mitchell for a short one-yard touchdown pass. Yeargan was 11-for-19 for 108 yards and one touchdown, and he ran for 25 yards.

ACA scored 14 unanswered points to finish the first half and took a 14-13 advantage with them into the break.

Out of halftime, Maplesville controlled the majority of the third quarter as Mitchell ripped off a 64-yard touchdown run, followed by Nehemiah McCary’s two-point conversion run to retake the lead at 21-14. ACA responded with a score, but McCary negated it with a touchdown run of four yards and the ensuing two-point try to push the lead to two possessions at 29-20. Down the stretch, ACA converted a pair of 31-yards field goals and the touchdown as time expired to take the road win.

McCary was the team’s leading rusher with 113 yards on 21 carries, followed by Mitchell’s 92-yard effort on five carries.

Maplesville’s defense was led by Aidan Abbott with six tackles and an interception. Dee Elliott and Von Woods each had a sack, and Elliott pulled down an interception as well.

“Our offensive line grew up last night, and they did a great job at controlling the line of scrimmage,” Brad Abbott said. “We had a few opportunities where we had some miscues here and there, but that stuff is just putting your team in positions that they may be put in in the playoffs. If it was another type of game, we may not have done some of the things we did. It is a good learning experience for them.”

Maplesville finishes the regular season at 8-2 and will host Florala High School in the first round of the Class 1A state playoffs on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.