NATCHEZ &045; This is when realignment works to your advantage.

Last year Adams Christian struggled against Parklane in what was a contest that went down as a district game and had a bearing on whether or not the Rebels would make the playoffs. This time, however, it was merely another predistrict tuneup before they open district next week on the road.

The Pioneers’ 28-6 win over a depleted Adams Christian squad Friday night was nearly a carbon copy of last year’s meeting. Now instead of worrying about their playoff lives, the Rebels have time to prepare for that.

&uot;They shut us down &045; there’s no question,&uot; Adams head coach Keith Walters said. &uot;I always try to give credit to the opposition. Parklane is well-coached and has a good football team. Hopefully playing this type of competition early will make us better. We play district next week. Hopefully we came out of this pretty healthy.&uot;

That may depend on how you define healthy. The Rebels came into the game so decimated by injuries they had to put in a new defense this week, and just one injury at this point would seem like at least two if not three.

Joey Wilson sat out the second half with ice on a knee, and the Rebels were significantly limited in what they could do offensively with receiver Ray Simpson not suited up.

Couple that with a Parklane front seven that was as big as a house, and the Rebels had little success moving the football.

&uot;We couldn’t get anything started on offense, and we couldn’t stop their offense,&uot; AC senior Dustin Case said. &uot;They kept the ball the whole first quarter. When you can’t stop them and can’t run on them, there’s nothing you can do. It’s very frustrating. We definitely could have played with them or come out on top.&uot;

The Pioneers took advantage of the Rebels’ limitations and also played well on both sides of the ball. Their first drive of the game set the tone &045; 17 plays, 80 yards encompassing just over 10 minutes to take a 7-0 lead, but the defense followed it up with stellar play.

Armed with a front line that kept steady pressure on quarterback Timmy Foster, the Pioneers held AC to just one first down the first half and to minus-4 yards rushing until both teams pulled their starters late in the game.

&uot;Our defense was the key to the game tonight,&uot; Parklane head coach Charlie Newlon said. &uot;We controlled the football the entire first quarter. That was the key to the ball game, I thought. Our running backs really hit the holes hard, and we made a couple The only miscue on Parklane’s behalf came in the third quarter after taking a 21-0 lead. Foster, who was sacked three times on the night, got pressured on the Rebels’ first play following the score but dumped it off to tight end Heath Williams.

Williams broke through traffic and ran 70 yards for a touchdown with 3:28 on the clock.

But that wasn’t all. On the kickoff, the Pioneers couldn’t hold on and Tim Cupit came up with the ball to give the Rebels a first down at the Parklane 22.

But Parklane’s defense bowed up big time, throwing Case for a loss on the first two plays and forcing Foster to throw incomplete on the next two as the Rebels turned it over on downs.

&uot;We never could establish one particular play,&uot; Walters said. &uot;We couldn’t get first downs and drive the football like we like to do. We had trouble staying on the block. But hey, I tell you, that was a really good defense. I thought we had three or four to hit on big plays on them. You’ve got to execute when you get those (chances).&uot;

The Rebels had another shot later when Foster picked off a Ben Wall pass and returned it down to the Parklane 15 midway through the fourth quarter. On third and 10, Foster had a pass picked off by linebacker J.C. Boyd, who returned it back down to the AC 32.

&uot;We watched a lot of film,&uot; Boyd said. &uot;They didn’t do anything new. Our defensive line had a bunch of sacks. We were worried about Case. When we came into the game, we had to stop No. 2. We stopped him.&uot;

Boyd’s pick set up Parklane’s final score to put the game away. The Pioneers needed five plays before Jay Shandy ran in from 1 yard out with 3:04 left in the game.

Mulkey had the first two runs on the drive and finished the game with 126 yards on 25 carries.