By the time New Madrid County Central’s offense found some life Friday night it was already too late to save their season. Facing Caruthersville for the second straight week to open the Class 2, District 1 Tournament the Eagles fell 58-20 to end their season and push their losing streak to six straight games. “If we could have came out with a little more intensity I think we’d been better off to start the game,” NMCC head coach Tyler Fullhart said. “The defense did a fantastic job. The D-line played great. “They were popping on us. We had to make some adjustments and we did. It gave us some life. We just weren’t able to capitalize on offense.” With their offense struggling to sustain drives early the Eagles defense held the Tigers to 12 in the first quarter and gave their team a boost with a timely interception. With 9:07 to go before the game senior Johnnie Walker picked off a Caruthersville pass and took it back 27 yards for the score. A successful two-point conversion put the Eagles within four points, 12-8. Three unanswered Caruthersville touchdowns to end the half, however, started to put the game out of reach. Nicholas Moore scored back-to-back rushing touchdowns before quarterback Devin Russell connected with Jermaine Alexander for a 69-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left before halftime. Moore’s two-point conversion made it 32-8 going into the locker room. “Especially wth the running game we made a bunch of big plays,” Caruthersville head coach Jimmy Jackson said. “Moore did a good job running the ball and so did Ja’Marion Rodgers. Hats off to our offensive line. “The things we talked about through the week, the run lanes we wanted to hit worked and opened up. They did a good job of hitting them hard.” NMCC’s chances of a comeback continued to evaporate when their second-half opening drive ended in a fumble. Another pair of Tiger scores in the third quarter ensued and left the Eagles trailing 45-8 heading into the fourth. Christen Phillips and Jay Maltbia rushed two straight NMCC touchdowns early in the fourth quarter thanks to an Eagle onside kick, making it 45-20 with 9:28 to play. Unfortunately for NMCC, a failed onside kick was followed by the Eagles turning the ball over on downs their next possession, allowing the Tigers to cruise to the win. “I think the kids felt the pressure or something,” Fullhart said of his team’s offense. “They didn’t quit or give up. That’s what makes me proud of them. “We knew what to expect coming in and so did they. They just outplayed us, so hats off to coach Jimmy Jackson and good luck to them.” While Caruthersville narrowly outpaced the Eagles with 20 first downs to NMCC’s 17, the rest of their offensive numbers were much more boastful. The Tigers out-gained NMCC 420-274 in total yards, rushing 34 times for 303 yards while also winning the turnover battle 4-1. The Eagles gained 152 yards on 33 rush attempts and were picked off three times in the passing game. Moore averaged over 10 yards-per-carry with 146 yards and four scores on 14 carries. Rodgers carried just four times to rack up 94 yards. Quazavion Jackson led NMCC, rushing 21 times for 97 yards. Quarterback Christen Phillips ran six times for 39 yards and a score. “We put a lot of points on the board,” John son said. “We still have some things we need to clean up. Our defense did a good job. I didn’t feel like they had much success offensively on us until we started to sub out a little. “Those (subs) did some good thongs too for us. It’s fun to watch when those guys get to get in and have some success.” Caruthersville (8-2) moves to semifinals where they’ll face Jefferson (9-1) on the road Friday at 7 p.m. NMCC ends the year at 4-6, having won their first four games of the year before ending a tough six-game losing streak. Even with the losing streak the Eagles had their most successful season in the win column since 2014 when they also won four games. “The beginning was tough and we overcame some stuff,” Fullhart said. “But we played some good teams towards the end of the season and loss to some good teams. We competed in all those games and I couldn’t be more proud of our guys and what they’ve overcome over the last few years. “It’s been a journey and it’s been great. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys we have.” NMCC 0 8 0 12 – 20 C’ville 12 20 13 13 – 58 First Quarter C—Nicholas Moore 44 run (run failed), 11:48 C—Devin Russell 1 run (pass failed), 3:40 Second Quarter N—Johnnie Walker interception return (Quazavion Jackson run), 9:07 C—Moore 10 run (run failed), 6:53 C—Moore 21 run (pass failed), 2:53 C—Jermaine Alexander 69 pass from Devin Russell (Moore run), 0:12 Third Quarter C—Micah Rodgers 4 pass from Russell (pass failed), 8:30 C—Moore 11 run (Alexander kick), 6:41 Fourth Quarter N—Christen Phillips 2 run (pass failed), 11:55 N—Jay Maltbia 3 run (run failed), 9:28 C—Ja’Marion Rodgers 41 run (kick failed), 6:05 C—Jeremiah Hollywood 13 run (Alexander kick), 2:53 Team Statistics N C First Downs 17 20 Total Yards 274 420 Rushes-yards 33-152 34-303 Passing yards 122 117 Comp-Att-Int 15-34-3 6-12-1 Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0 Penalties-yards 12-100 9-80 Turnovers 4 1 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — NMCC, Quazavion Jackson 21-97, Christen Phillips 6-39, Johnnie Walker 2-14, Troquon Mays 1-10, Jay Maltbia 1-3, Jamal Ranson 1-(-5), Austin Davis 1-(-6); Caruthersville, Nicholas Moore 14-146, Ja’Marion Rodgers 4-94, Devin Russell 14-49, Jeremiah Hollywood 1-13, Micah Rodgers 1-1. PASSING—NMCC, Christen Phillips 13-32-3-91, Quazavion Jackson 1-1-0-36; Caruthersville, Devin Russell 6-12-1-117. RECEIVING — NMCC, Johnnie Walker 5-43, Christen Phillips 1-36, Quazavion Jackson 4-33, Austin Davis 3-10, Mark Underwood 2-0; Caruthersville, Jermaine Alexander 3-112, Micah Rodgers 1-4, Dundi Hamilton 2-1.