After a Cinderella playoff run last season in which the Central Tigers were undefeated until the Class A state quarterfinals, the 2024 season came to a halt for the Tigers with a 4415 Class A, Division II opening-round playoff loss to the host Hominy Bucks last Friday night.

The Tigers ended their season at 7-4.

A late first-quarter 2-yard touchdown run by Dillon Miller, plus Zach Comer’s extra point, put the Tigers ahead 7-6 after a quarter. The score was set up by Ryker MIller’s fumble recovery near midfield.

However, the second quarter was where the Bucks (9-2) took control of the game, outscoring the Tigers 20-0 en route to a 26-7 halftime lead.

“Things didn’t go our way in the second quarter,” Central coach Jeremy Thompson said. “In the second quarter, we gave up some big plays. We gave up way too many third-down conversions. They have good athletes. The one thing we had to eliminate was (giving up) the big plays. We weren’t able to do that.”

Dillon Miller scored Central’s other TD on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter, which was coupled with a two-point conversion pass from Braxin Goodson to Joe Brooks.

For the game, Goodson threw for 105 yards, while Dillon Miller rushed 10 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

“The kids had a good year,” Thompson said. “We tied for first (place) in the district (District AII-3). I wish things would have turned out a little bit different. All in all, they fought hard, played hard and I’m proud of them.”