NATCHEZ — Centreville coach Bill Hurst knows running the football is what his team does best and boy, did they do it well Friday night in the MPSA Class AA South State Championship Game.

The Tigers rushed the ball 53 times for 219 yards in a 35-14 win over Trinity that propels them to next week’s State Championship Game. They will face Marshall Academy next Friday at 7 p.m. at Mississippi College in Clinton.

“We felt like we threw the ball too much the last time we played them (a 36-22 Trinity win in the final game of the regular season),” Hurst said. “We felt like we needed to pound them on the ground and play a physical game, and that’s what we did.”

Centreville tailbacks Nick Goudeau and Zack Sinclair combined to rush for 187 yards and five touchdowns as the Tigers grinded out the yards and the clock.

The Tigers only had to throw the ball four times, but completed three of those for 36 yards.

“Our offensive line took it to them,” Hurst said. “They did a good job opening up holes for our running backs.”

What Centreville did was no surprise but most of the night, especially in the first half when Centreville scored 29 of its points, Trinity was powerless to stop them.

“We knew they were going to run the ball right at us,” Trinity coach David King said. “They are just a powerful team. The better team won the game tonight.”

Centreville wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, moving 80 yards on their first possession to score a touchdown, capped off by Sinclair’s 23-yard jaunt.

Centreville took advantage of a Trinity fumble on the ensuing kickoff to pick up another touchdown late in the first quarter, when Goudeau found the paint from 9 yards out to make it 14-0 after Kyle Brown’s extra point.

The Tigers scored two plays after another Trinity turnover, this time an interception tossed by Parker Brumfield, to take a 21-0 lead when Sinclair scored from 6 yards away.

The Saints turned the ball over a total of five times in the game, which led to 28 Centreville points.

“We took advantage of their turnovers, just like they took advantage of our turnovers the last time we played them,” Hurst said. “That was the difference in the game tonight.”

Trinity cut the lead to 21-7 when Brumfield found Matthew Freeman open for a 13-yard scoring strike, but Centreville scored with just 14 second left in the first half on another 6-yard run by Sinclair.

Trinity scored again midway through the third quarter on a 12-yard pass from Brumfield to Freeman, but couldn’t get into scoring range the remaining of the game.

Centreville closed the game out with a Goudeau 6-yard touchdown run in the final four minutes of the game.

While Centreville (12-2) celebrated a trip to the State Championship game next Friday, the loss was a painful end to Trinity’s perfect season.

The Saints finished the year with a record of 13-1.

“No one thought we would be here at the start of the season,” King said. “I won’t let these guys forget the great things they accomplished this season. This is one of the best groups of seniors to come out of Trinity and I’m going to miss them.”