Centralia and Macon ended up as advertised on Friday.

The Class 2 top-10 Clarence Cannon Conference teams were locked in a defensive battle most of the night only for Macon to score the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter and hand the Panthers a 20-14 loss to end the regular season. Macon quarterback MyKel Linear totaled 206 yards of total offense and ran for the winning score to give him two touchdowns in the game.

Centralia’s offensive line still was stout as the Panthers (7-2, 5-2 CCC) ran for 205 yards on 29 carries, only being outgained by the Tigers’ running game by 26 yards. Kyden Wilkerson finished with 174 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns – one for 43 yards and another for 54 yards – in the first half. Centralia had 33 passing yards, and quarterback Cullen Bennett threw two interceptions, including one that sealed the game for the Tigers (8-1, 6-1 CCC) in the remaining minutes of the game.

Head coach Tyler Forsee said the game could’ve had a different result had Centralia played a more refined brand of football. This goes beyond turnovers as he said the offense wasn’t as smooth this time.

“We’d have an unforced error, like a bobbled snap or something like that, that might put us behind the chains a little bit,” Forsee said. “We had a tough time recovering from that.”

Forsee said Centralia was aware of Linear but also had several other athletic Tigers to deal with defensively. Running back Mickey Martie finished with 86 yards on 19 carries, Isaac Kauffman added 37 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, and Boston Douglas caught five passes for 61 yards.

“They got a lot of pretty good athletes on the offensive side of the ball that could cause some problems,” Forsee said. “You’ve got to spread out pretty thin on defense to try to cover as many as you can.

“(Linear) can run so well, and he’s got a really strong arm. He can extend plays, he can throw on the run and he’s a good athlete. When they needed a big play, it seemed to always come from him, whether it was running or hitting an open guy on a scramble.”

Regarding Linear, Forsee said he thought the Panther pressured him well but didn’t contain him well enough when he ran to the outside. In the fourth quarter, Centralia had the Macon offense in a fourth-and-three situation on the Panther five-yard line before Linear took the next two runs for a first down and then a touchdown.

Macon ran 64 plays compared with Centralia’s 38, almost doubling the Panthers in time of possession. The winning drive went 82 yards on 12 plays.

“Our kids fought hard, but we gave them a little too much at times, and they were able to keep their offense out on the field,” Forsee said.

Centralia’s performance Friday, no matter the result, didn’t change its No. 2 seed or its “will to win,” Forsee said in the Class 2 District 7 Tournament and also didn’t take away the bye week the Panthers get.

Following its bye on Friday, Centralia hosts the winner of No. 3 Hallsville (4-5) and No. 6 Palmyra (1-8) at 7 p.m. Nov. 4. The Panthers defeated Hallsville and Palmyra earlier this season. Bowling Green (9-0) will be the No. 1 seed after securing its third straight conference title and second straight undefeated regular season in Week 9.