PROSPERITY — The Mid-Carolina High School Rebels could have the best kept secret in all of 2A football with their trio of talent who is looking forward to potentially leading them back to another playoff berth.

Nolan Palmore, Keshon Williams, and Ezerial Prater are names that all of Newberry County should become familiar with heading into the 2023 football season. The trio looks to continue the new found success of the program and help put the Rebels back in position to make the playoffs for the second straight season. They shook off a playoff drought of nearly a decade last season and found themselves competing in last year’s 2A state playoffs. After falling short to Silver Bluff 27-14 in the first round and graduating 19 seniors, the Rebels’ trio are looking to change the culture for Mid-Carolina and help the once struggling program earn some respect.

Palmore is a senior and will be impactful on both sides of the ball. The track star traded in his spikes for a pair of football cleats last season. As a junior, he spent most of his time on defense but has really worked on being versatile this summer. He will split time at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and defensive back. Basically, just an all-around athlete.

“Compared to last year, I didn’t play as many positions. So, having to adapt to change is something I had to get used too but I think I am much better at it this year than I was last year,” said Palmore.

Williams will have the task of replacing Anthony Wicker’s huge production (791 rushing yards, six rushing TDs) from last season. The sophomore spent most of his time on the junior varsity squad but is poised to make an impact on varsity this season. The 6-foot, 215 pound bruiser of a running back will share the backfield with Palmore and start at linebacker as well.

Prater will be the quarterback of the defense this season for the Rebels. The junior will start at middle linebacker and is embracing his role as a leader.

“[This summer] I worked on knowing the plays and being able to help everybody else and call out everything on the defense with me being mike linebacker,” Prater said.

In addition to the trio getting better individually, they also took on the role of helping to bring their teammates closer together over the summer, especially their defensive unit. All three players agreed that the defense will shine bright this season.

“We are a family out there.It’s not one single player out there that is trying to shine brighter than anyone,” Prater said. “We have a lot of great players on that side of the ball. We have Ezerial, Braeden [Wessinger], our linebacker core, JD [Justin Dover], AD , Jeremiah [Alston], our secondary a long with me [Prater], and of course we can’t forget about our big boys [defensive linemen] up front.”

Reach Greg Hollis @ 803-768-3117 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews