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CANTON — The Centreville Academy Tigers saw their season come to an end last Friday night as they lost to the Canton Academy Panthers 42-8 in the semifinals of the 2022 MAIS Class 3A Playoffs.

Despite entering the postseason with a losing overall record, Centreville Academy still earned the No. 3 seed after winning the District 3-3A championship a few weeks ago. Canton Academy earned the No. 2 seed as the District 2-3A champion.

The game was close after one quarter of play, which ended with the Panthers holding a 6-0 lead. The second quarter is when they took over as they put 29 points to take a commanding 35-0 lead.

Canton Academy scored a touchdown in the third quarter to go up 42-0 before the Tigers finally got on the scoreboard thanks to a touchdown and two-point conversion in the fourth quarter.

Centreville Academy ran the ball well, finishing with 256 yards on 43 total carries. But its passing game was nowhere to be seen as freshman quarterback Parker Nettles was just 2-for-8 for 18 yards with one interception — the Tigers’ only turnover of the game.

Two things stood out about this playoff game. First, the Tigers ran 54 plays to just 31 for the Panthers. Second, the Tigers were just 2-for-10 on third-down conversions and 0-for-3 on fourth-down conversions while the Panthers were 4-for-6 converting third downs and were successful on their only fourth-down conversion.

Canton Academy ran pretty much a balanced offense with 212 yards on 17 total carries and was 4-for-6 passing for 119 yards and one touchdown. The Panthers scored five touchdowns on the ground. The only thing that slowed them down was penalties. They were flagged nine times for 101 yards.

Despite facing a tough non-district schedule during the regular season that included the likes of Adams County Christian School, Brookhaven Academy, and Central Hinds Academy, Centreville Academy finished with an overall record of 6-7. 

Canton Academy improved to 11-1 overall and will take on No. 4 seed Central Holmes Christian School at 3 p.m. Friday at Jackson Academy in the Class 3A State Championship Game. The Trojans upset No. 1 seed Greenville Christian School 33-32 on the road last Friday night in the other semifinal round game.