In its first meeting with Monroe City this season, Centralia achieved its biggest margin of victory against the rival Panthers since 2015.

The No. 1 seed and state No. 3 Panthers did it again in a Class 2 District 7 semifinal game at home in Centralia when they defeated Monroe City 46-6. Centralia (10-0) finished with 306 rushing yards to Centralia to post at least 300 rushing yards for the 10th time this season.

Head coach Tyler Forsee said Centralia was able to “play tough again” while facing a Clarence Cannon Conference rival who has matched his team’s rushing attack the past few years. Monroe City (5-6) had 153 rushing yards, and quarterback Wyatt DeGrave was held to single-digit yardage once again with seven offensive yards. DeGrave had four yards in the first meeting.

“We blitzed their front in order to get them into third and longs to get them behind the chains,” Forsee said. “If you don’t, they will continue to run the ball. It’s a lot like Mexico’s offense where they can get three yards and be very OK with that because they can keep getting three yards and they’re going to have a first down.”

Forsee said the defense has to be patient with that offense, and they were on Friday. Oliver Bohlmeyer led with seven tackles and two interceptions, and six Panthers had a tackle for loss.

The Centralia offense did what it has done all year. Ethan Ross led with 121 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, Cooper Gehring had 76 yards and two touchdowns on four carries, and Dax Deckerd had a 48-yard touchdown run.

The passing game had some life for Centralia, however, as the first touchdown it scored was a 46-yard pass from Bohlmeyer to Carson Hill and Peyton Kempker had a 35-yard reception. Bohlmeyer completed both passing attempts for 81 yards. Forsee said Centralia had 73 passing yards going into the game.

“We’ve been practicing our pass game because, at some point, we’re going to need to pass,” Forsee said. “We have the guys that can do it. We just haven’t had to really do it this year. It’s nice to know, if we need to, we can.”

Centralia might have its initial options taken away at 7 p.m. Friday at home against Palmyra (8-3). The No. 2 seed and conference rival gave Centralia its biggest scare this year when Centralia trailed 27-6 at Palmyra before coming back to win 48-42.

Forsee said Centralia has punted six times this season and had four of those happen against Palmyra. He said he doesn’t like to punt, so Centralia hopes it can establish a run game along with an early intensity.

“They did a really good job of slowing us down,” Forsee said. “Our kids are going to be more fired up.”