CENTREVILLE — After struggling through the first half of the year, it seems that Centreville is beginning to hit its stride — and just in time, too.

The Tigers dismantled previously undefeated district 5-AA opponent Bowling Green 41-11 Friday night and will once again take on a district foe this week — this time Silliman Institute.

“That was the best performance we’ve had all year,” Centreville assistant coach Brian Stutzman said. “The kids came out ready to play and played hard the whole game. We had a better attitude all week at practice.”

Stutzman said the coaching staff is glad to see the improvement, after a 13-12 loss to Central Private three weeks ago put the Tigers in a 0-1 hole in district play.

“We already have a district loss,” Stutzman said. “In order to make the playoffs, we can’t afford to lose another district game. We want to take care of business ourselves and not rely on other teams losing to make the playoffs.”

Centreville now has a chance to get above .500 in district play with a road win over Silliman Friday night.

The Wildcats have a 4-1 record, with their only loss being a 39-6 defeat against Bowling Green in the third week of the season.

Stutzman said Silliman likes to run the ball, and has some quality players that are able to do that.

Stutzman said fullback and linebacker Matt Day is a leader on the Silliman offense and defense while sophomore running back Nick Ohlinger is very quick and will test the Tiger defense.

“They are an above-average team that can beat you,” Stutzman said. “They want to run the football. It’s just a matter of stopping them.”

And if the Tigers keep improving the way they have the past couple of weeks, Stutzman expects the defending Class AA state champions to be right back in the championship hunt when the playoffs begin on Nov. 7.

“We have seemed to turn the corner,” Stutzman said. “We’ve made tremendous improvement. If we play like we played last Friday night, we feel like we can win the rest of our games.”