Greenville defensive lineman Kenneth Carter was a late replacement for the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic, but coaches and recruiting experts have been impressed with his play during practice this week for the big game, which is scheduled for Saturday at Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Kickoff is at 12:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by the VERSUS network.

Carter (6-5, 267), who committed in July to play football for Auburn, is ranked the eleventh best player in the state by The Birmingham News, and is one of the top 20 prospects in Alabama, according to the Mobile Press-Register.

Carter replaced Mountain Brook’s Wilson Love on the 37-man Alabama roster. Love suffered a season-ending leg injury in the final game of the year.

And it appears Carter has made the most of his opportunity. Barry Every, a recruiting analyst for Rivals.com, a website that follows high school recruiting, said Carter was impressive working with the Alabama defense earlier this week.

“He’s the guy that everyone wants to get off the bus first…he (Carter) has great size and is that rare body type that can play strongside defensive end or defensive tackle,” said Every. “He’s got the size to be a good pass rusher from the inside and good run stopper. Auburn fans should be really excited about him.”

Carter is one of six Auburn commitments playing in this year’s game. The others are Charles Henderson linebacker Jawara White, Ariton defensive end Craig Sanders, Springville wide receiver Jeremy Richardson, Jess Lanier’s LaDarius Owens, and Olive Branch (Miss.) offensive lineman Shon Coleman. Alabama commits include: Opelika running back Corey Grant, defensive backs Deion Belue (Deshler), Demarcus Milliner (Stanhope-Elmore), Jarrick Williams (Blount), and Nicholas Perry (Prattville).

Alabama holds a 15-7 advantage in the series. Alabama beat Mississippi last season 28-3.