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Centennial's perfect season comes to an end
BY CHRIS O'DELL, codell@acnpapers.com
MIDLOTHIAN -- Frisco Centennial entered Friday night's matchup with one of the top defenses in the area.
The Corsicana offense didn't care one bit though, torching the Titans for 535 yards of total offense on the way to a 52-31 victory at Midlothian High School.
"Tonight [Corsicana] was the better football team," said Mark Howard, Centennial head coach. "There's no doubt about that."
"We didn't tackle as well as we needed to," Howard said. "Especially later in the game. Hats off to Corsicana though. They're a great football team."
Washington, who broke a school record for rushing yards in a career Friday, led the Tigers with 214 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries.
"[Washington] is a much tougher running back than I gave him credit for," Howard said. "He's an awfully good football player."
Despite the 83 points put up by the two teams in the game, the contest featured stout defensive play early in the ballgame.
It was the Titans who got on the scoreboard first with a 42-yard field goal from junior kicker Austin Shoemake at the 5:00 mark of the opening quarter.
Corsicana answered the Centennial score with the game's first touchdown, giving the Tigers an 8-3 lead with just 1:41 remaining in the opening quarter. The score came courtesy of a 7-yard pass from Bell to senior receiver Christian Hines.
It didn't take long for the Titans to recapture the lead, however.
Centennial needed only 60 seconds for senior running back Darian McMahon to break lose on a 74-yard reception from junior quarterback Lamar Jordan, giving the Titans a 10-8 lead at the end of one frame.
"We were able to do some things early on," Howard said. "But their rush put us in a bind a lot of times and put a lot of pressure on Jordan in the pocket."
Jordan finished the game with 254 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception through the air after completing 18-of-33 pass attempts on the night.
The junior quarterback also added 82 yards on the ground after carrying the ball 17 times in the game.
In a back-and-forth game early on, the Tigers took their second lead of the game on a 4-yard run from Washington to go ahead 14-10 with 10:20 left in the opening half.
Centennial junior Ranthony Texada swung the momentum right back in his team's favor only 18 seconds later with a 95-yard kickoff return for touchdown to put the Titans back ahead, 17-14.
That's when the Tigers began a 16-7 run to end the half and take a 30-24 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter really separated the two teams, with the Tigers outscoring the Titans 15-0 in the frame to take a 45-24 lead into the final 12 minutes of play.
Things then went from bad to worse for the Titans after Washington took a handoff from Bell 52 yards to the house, giving Corsicana a 28-point lead with only 11:47 remaining in the game.
Jordan and the Centennial offense would only be able to add one final score before the end of the game. The junior hooked up with senior tight end Cole Cantrell on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 7:23 remaining in the game.
Cantrell had five receptions for 46 yards and the one touchdown on the night. McMahon led all players with 135 yards receiving on the night after catching seven passes and one going for a touchdown.
The win puts Corsicana into a state quarterfinals matchup with Kilgore next week. The two teams will battle in Forney Friday night.
Meanwhile, the Centennial loss ends the team's perfect season after the Titans won the first 12 games they played this year.
Howard said his team will be able to enjoy that feat after the upset from Friday's loss dies down.
"When all the dust settles, we'll be able to enjoy that," he said. "Of course, all you can think about right now is this loss."
"I'm real proud of these kids," he said. "They've set the bar real high. They've really set a challenge for next year's seniors."
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