Parklane Academy went back and forth in the MAIS AAAA District 2 opener at Copiah Academy in Gallman on Friday night and had a chance to send the game into overtime but fell just short in a 24-21 loss.
Braden Halstead, who made all three of his extra points, missed a late field goal with the Pioneers (4-4, 0-1) trailing 24-21.
“I’m sure it was a good game for fans to watch,” Parklane head coach Brian Stutzman said. “We had a chance at the end of the game to put it to overtime in field goal.
“It was a hard-fought game.”
Trent Coleman led the Pioneers with 20 carries for 117 yards and two touchdowns including a 69-yard score in the first quarter to give his team a 7-0 lead. He also had a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to cut the Colonels’ lead to 24-21.
“Trent Coleman ran the ball hard,” Stutzman said. “We just made too many mental mistakes in a game where every yard counts. We just made too made too many mental mistakes. We didn’t capitalize when we should have.”
Copiah led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 32-yard field goal and 16-yard touchdown run.
Running back Jay Smith came back with a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Pioneers a 14-10 lead. Smith finished with 21 carries for 65 yards.
Stutzman praised the effort of both running backs and the offense for not turning the ball over, but mistakes still proved costly.
“It was a battle,” he said. ”It was a good game. We had a breakdown on special teams, kind of set up short field position for him. I think that was the difference in the game. I don’t think we had any turnovers. It was a pretty evenly matched game.”
Quarterback Brandt Watson was 3 of 12 passing for 46 yards, while Cam Johnson was 1 of 1 passing for 6 yards. Johnson had two rushes for 37 yards, Kyrin Bickham had three rushes for 36 yards and Drew Parish had one run for 2 yards.
Tight end Newlon Gillihan had a 30-yard reception, receiver Ben Lampton had a 6-yard reception and fullback Braydon Coffey had a 6-yard reception.
Johnson led Parklane with six tackles, Watson and Coffey had five tackles each, while Bickham had three tackles and one sack.
Parklane hosts Hillcrest Christian School from Jackson next Friday and Oak Forest Academy from Amite, La., Oct. 28 in district matchups. Kickoff for both games is at 7 p.m.
The Pioneers could have secured a home playoff game with a win at Copiah on Friday. With the loss, Stutzman said he expects his team to have to play at Copiah again in the first round of the playoffs.
“We’ve just got to keep pounding and keep working and getting better,” he said.
