Centralia lost momentum early and eventually lost ground on Friday night.

The Panthers, who received votes in the Class 2 state poll, played two classes up for their Senior Night game against Class 4 No. 3 Kirksville. Centralia trailed 12-0 at halftime but ended up losing 41-12.

Kirksville (9-0) finished with 305 total offensive yards, including 190 passing yards, so head coach Tyler Forsee was impressed with the Tigers’ quarterback Ryder Lyons. Forsee said he was also impressed how Centralia (6-3) stayed close to a team with so many quality pieces in the first half, but mistakes were made.

“Our first drive, we got down to about the 30 and fumbled,” Forsee said. “We were moving the ball very well so that killed momentum. Later, we fumbled again and they scooped and scored from 40 yards out for a touchdown. The last touchdown they got was when we shanked a punt, and they had 35 yards to go.”

Defense played well overall in Forsee’s eyes as Charlie Robinson led with nine tackles followed by seven from Luke Waltemate and Ian Tuggle led with three tackles for loss and had six tackles. Four other Panthers had at least one tackle for loss. However, allowing a team like Kirksville as many short fields as it had is too much to handle.

Centralia did finish with 256 offensive yards, including 221 yards on the ground. Coming off two 200-yard performances, Ethan Ross ran for 157 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries and Robinson had 72 yards on 13 carries. Forsee said finding consistent success against Kirksville’s defense is a challenge.

“It’s hard to move a ball against a team that flew to the ball,” Forsee said. “They made quick reads. We could not sustain drives. We could get big plays here and there, but after that first drive, we had some suspended drives.”

Forsee said Kirksville’s special teams unit was also tough to deal with as he recalls a punt being pinned at the 5 after rolling for 30 yards.

Centralia’s four-game winning streak ended, but that four-game win streak righted the Panthers after dealing with a laundry list of injuries and earned them a home game. Forsee thought last week was the first week that Centralia didn’t have a single injury, but it was actually the final regular season game against Kirksville he could say that.

Now Forsee said he needs to do his homework to prepare his kids for a 7 p.m. Friday game with Carrollton (5-4) in a No. 3 and No. 6 seed matchup in Class 2 District 3.

“We’ve got to do better with the fundamentals,” Forsee said. “Our tackling got a little sloppy at times. A team like Kirksville’s going to make you pay for it.”