Centennial grounds out win over Basha

No. 6 seed Peoria Centennial dropped No. 11 seed Chandler Basha 38-13 on Friday in the opening round of the Division I playoffs.

Centennial was led by junior running back Taylor Fiamie, who ran for 87 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns.

"Glad our defense got going in the second half,'' Fiamie said. "Teams tend to key on me so I'm used to getting beat up.''

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Fiamie led a running game that racked up 291 yards, while Centennial quarterback Isaac Steele threw for 63 yards and scored one touchdown. On defense, Centennial (8-3) was led by defensive end Andrew Nichols, who racked up three of his team's six sacks.

"When they scored those two touchdowns, we knew we had to step it up,'' Nichols said. "We kept chasing their quarterback (Ryan Kelley) all of the game, but he really got going in the second half, so we had to go after him.''

Kelley finished 11 of 25 for 117 yards, but no touchdowns and two crucial interceptions that killed drives.

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Centennial moved down field in seven plays to start the game with Steele scoring on a 16-yard run with 9 minutes, 25 seconds left in the first quarter. Xavier Rojas' kick put Centennial up 7-0.

Kelley's first interception by Carl Barrs set up Centennial at the Basha 33 on the next series. On the next play, Fiamie ran 33 yards for a 14-0 score after the kick just 2 minutes later. Rojas' 27-yard field goal at 11:15 in the second quarter put Centennial in front 17-0, then Chris Jules put Centennial up 24-0 on a 2-yard run.

But Basha (4-7) came right back to start the second half when Kelley scored on a keeper to make the score 24-7 after Trent Lenz's kick with 9:58 to go in the third period.

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Basha scored on its next series when Corbin Blomquist scored on a 19-yard run just 3 minutes later. Lenz's kick was off left and the score was 24-13. But Centennial's David McGriff put the game away with his 95-yard kickoff return on the next play that put Centennial in front 31-13.

Fiamie's 9-yard run with 5:37 left in the game finished the scoring.

Centennial travels to Chandler Hamilton in the state quarterfinals next week.

PHOTOS: On the sidelines - High school football 2015