STARKVILLE — Led by senior running back Taylor Arnold and a defense that held Cathedral High School to under 100 yards of total offense, the Starkville Academy Volunteers cruised to a 40-6 win over the Green Wave Friday night in the first round of the MAIS Class AAA State Playoffs.

Arnold had 104 yards and two touchdowns on just four carries for No. 6 seed Starkville Academy (9-2). Sophomore running back Cj Jackson had six carries for 63 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Volunteers, who had 244 of their 285 total yards on the ground.

On the other hand, No. 11 seed Cathedral could not get anything going offensive against a stout Volunteer defense. The Green Wave finished with 57 total yards and four first downs. Its rushing attack, which in recent weeks has been solid, averaged less than a yard per carry — 28 attempts for 23 yards.

Junior quarterback J.t. Taylor completed just three of 13 passes for 34 yards with one interception. Tyriek Lee was the Green Wave’s leading rusher with 45 yards on 15 carries.

Starkville Academy led 13-0 at the end of the first quarter before putting the game away with a 27-point second quarter for a 40-0 halftime lead.

The Green Wave didn’t score until there was less than two minutes remaining on Lance Gaude’s 95-yard punt return. Ty Bertelsen led the Green Wave’s defense with five tackles and Ben Foster had four tackles.

Cathedral finished its season on a five-game losing streak and with a 4-6 overall record. Meanwhile, Starkville Academy will host No. 14 seed Adams County Christian in the quarterfinals of the Class AAA State Playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday. ACCS upset No. 3 seed Bowling Green School 30-19 Friday night.

Centreville Academy 40, Carroll Academy 14

CENTREVILLE — Daniel Vine had 20 carries for 131 yards and three touchdowns as No. 7 seed Centreville Academy defeated No. 10 seed Carroll Academy 40-14 Friday night in the first round of the MAIS Class AA State Playoffs.

Even though Centreville Academy entered the playoffs with a worse overall record at 5-5 than Carroll Academy at 7-3, the Tigers’ strength of schedule earned them a higher seed than the Rebels.

The Tigers turned to their special teams to get the scoring started as Colby Welch returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown with 9:53 to go in the first quarter. Cade Hurst’s two-point conversion run gave them an 8-0 lead.

Vine’s first TD of the night came on a one-yard run at the 7:36 mark of the opening quarter for a 14-0 Tigers lead. Carroll Academy (7-4) made it 14-7 on an eight-yard TD pass just 50 seconds into the second quarter.

Centreville took over from there, scoring 20 consecutive points. Tyler Thomassie scored on a one-yard run with 4:51 remaining until halftime to give the Tigers a 20-7 lead. Vine scored on a 28-yard run and Devon Parrish ran in for the two-point conversion for a 28-7 lead with 10:10 left in the third quarter.

Then with 6:52 to go in the third quarter, Vine scored his third and final touchdown of the game on a nine-yard run for a 34-7 advantage.

The Rebels scored on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 11:57 remaining, but the Tigers answered with 5:52 to go on with a 24-yard TD run by Parrish, who had 69 yards on 10 carries.

Centreville’s defense forced three turnovers and held Carroll Academy to 181 yards of total offense. Senior middle linebacker Colton Peterson led the way with 16 tackles and junior nose guard Logan Longmire had nine tackles. Vine and Welch each had an interception while Hayden Herring had a fumble recovery.

Centreville Academy (6-5) will travel to Winona to take on No. 2 seed Winona Christian School (8-3) Friday at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Class AA State Playoffs. The District 1-AA champion Stars shut out No. 15 seed Amite School Center 43-0 Friday night.