AMITE, La. &045; For weeks, this had been the game circled on calendars across south Mississippi and Louisiana’s Florida Parish.

Centreville (9-1 overall, 5-0 in District 4-AA) and Oak Forest (8-2, 5-1), both undefeated in district play coming into the game, met Friday night in a clash of high school titans. When the dust cleared, the Tigers had secured a 27-6 victory, the District 4-AA championship and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs two weeks from now.

&uot;This win was important. It was important mentally for our boys to overcome this hurdle,&uot; Centreville head coach Bill Hurst said.

The tone of the game was set early when Centreville’s Chase Paulk took the opening kick off 64 yards to set up a Tiger touchdown, helping out the Tiger offense with great field position.

Despite a mediocre offensive effort throughout the game from Centreville, three Yellow Jacket turnovers and stellar special teams play from the Tigers allowed Centreville to score three first-half touchdowns. Each drive started in Yellow Jacket territory.

The Yellow Jackets had a number of big plays on offense and drove the ball into Centreville territory with consistency. But three big fourth-down stops from the Tiger defense, all deep in Centreville territory, were the key to the game. Oak Forest simply couldn’t convert promising drives into points.

&uot;We had a lot of opportunities but didn’t take advantage,&uot; Oak Forest head coach Jason Brabham said. &uot;I said earlier this week the key to this game would be us scoring points and we didn’t do that.&uot;

The Tiger defense, inconsistent throughout much of this year, used a bend-but-don’t-break mentality to hold the Yellow Jackets to just one score. Centreville gave up big plays but forced two turnovers, scoring one touchdown and setting up another.

&uot;The defense played the best game it’s played all year,&uot; Hurst said. &uot;We haven’t really played good defense this year, but they did good tonight.&uot;

The key play in the second half might have been a failed fourth-down conversion for the Yellow Jackets. Oak Forest’s Cody Husser was stopped on the Centreville eight-yard line, just a yard short of a first down.

At the time, the Yellow Jackets were down 20-6 and trying to fight their way back into the game.

The Tigers’ Paulk intercepted a pass on the next Oak Forest drive and ran it back 73 yards for a touchdown, putting Centreville up by 21 points and all but ending the game.

Senior running back Blake Devall turned in another top-notch performance, pacing the Tiger running game with 125 yards and also completing an eight-yard pass to quarterback Jennings Field on the game’s opening score.

Devall also carried the ball 34 times in the game, eating up yards and minutes in the second half as Centreville held on to win. Some Oak Forest defenders commented that Devall was more difficult to tackle than in recent years.

&uot;I’ve been working on getting stronger. I went up in all the major (weight) lifts this year,&uot; Devall said. &uot;I just didn’t want to lose again.&uot;

Centreville had lost to Oak Forest in the teams’ previous four meetings.

For both teams, the danger may lie in not being able to put this game behind them. With one week still left in the regular season, both squads need to put the finishing touches on before the playoffs.

Brabham, visibly upset after the game, said he’ll do whatever it takes to get his team prepared for the remainder of the season and postseason.

&uot;We better get ready to play or we’ll get beat again,&uot; Brabham said.

Even with the big win, Hurst was also thinking ahead to next week.

&uot;We just have to find a way to get ready for the next one,&uot; Hurst said. &uot;We have to forget about this game.&uot;