Centreville advances to Class AA state semifinals

Published 12:30 am Saturday, November 9, 2013

CENTREVILLE — Mark Curry’s 2-yard touchdown run with 6:52 to play capped off a run of 28 unanswered points as the second-seeded Centreville Academy Tigers rallied from a 13-0 deficit to defeat the seventh-seeded Tri-County Academy Rebels 28-21 Friday night in the second round of the MAIS Class AA Playoffs.

“It was a hard-fought game. Tri-County’s got a good program and a great tradition. We were lucky to come out with a win,” Centreville assistant coach Brian Stutzman said. “It was a great playoff atmosphere. It was a good ball game.”

Curry finished with 63 yards rushing on 13 carries and two touchdowns while Tyler Caston led Centreville’s ground game with 91 yards on 10 carries.

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Even though Tri-County Academy had won the past two Class A state championships, not many people gave the Rebels a chance to keep it close, let alone have a lead against Centreville on the Tigers’ home field.

But the Rebels did just that. Ryan Cothern scored on a 2-yard run with 7:59 to go in the first quarter and Trey Bozeman had a 2-yard touchdown run of his own with 2:36 to go in the second quarter for a 13-0 lead.

Then the Tigers started their comeback with 36 seconds to go in the first half when Curry scored on a 5-yard run and Brock Andrus added the extra point. They got the ball to open the second half and needed just 48 seconds to take the lead for good on John McDowell’s 3-yard run and Andrus’ extra point.

Casey Haygood threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Colby Shaw for a 21-13 Centreville lead with 4:02 to go in the third quarter. Curry’s second TD run of the game gave the Tigers a 28-13 advantage.

Stutzman said the Tigers had several opportunities to put the game away in the fourth quarter, but were unable to capitalize on them. That allowed Tri-County to get back in the game. Bozeman scored on a 21-yard run and threw to Cothern on the two-point conversion with 2:07 to go. However, the Rebels never got the ball back.

“They never quit. But we were able to finish the game,” Stutzman said.

Centreville Academy (11-1) plays host to No. 11 seed Glenbrook School at 7 p.m. next Friday in the Class AA semifinal round.