EASTERN, Ky. — In a game that was much more competitive than the final score would indicate, the Pineville Mountain Lions saw their season come to an end with a 60-34 loss at Allen Central in the first round of the playoffs Friday night.

The teams took turns marching up and down the field in the first half and Allen Central took a 3020 lead into the half.

In the third quarter the Lion defense got a big boost from the return of senior lineman Tim Hubbard and linebacker Jon Widener, who had sat out the first half.

They stopped the Rebels on the first drive of the third quarter when A.Y. Evans intercepted a Chris Stumbo pass on third and long.

The Lions needed just one play to get right back into the game as sophomore Brandon Bailey took a short pass from Mark Combs and out-ran the Allen Central defense for a 46-yard touchdown. Al Merrick’s extra point made it 30-27 with 9:56 remaining the third quarter.

Pineville had a couple of chances to re-take the lead in the third, but failed to capitalize. Jordan Parks recovered a fumble at the Lion 26 to stop a Rebel drive and a roughing the kicker penalty on a punt gave the Lions a first down at the 35.

Combs passed to Eric Raby for six yards and then drew Allen Central off sides with a hard count on third and four for a first down near midfield. But the drive would stall after three straight incompletions and the score would stay 30-27 going into the fourth quarter.

Rebel quarterback Chris Stumbo would cap a long Central drive with a one-yard sneak early in the fourth quarter and Logan Crowder ran in the two-point conversion to stretch the lead to 38-27.

The Lions next drive was short-circuited by an intentional grounding call where a Combs’ pass looked to be thrown near a receiver along the sideline and a mysterious offsides penalty against a receiver before the rest of the offense had even gotten set.

Allen Central would take over at the Lion 38 and Justin Jackson would get free around the end six plays later for a 16-yard TD run. He added the two-point conversion and the Rebels were in control with a 46-27 lead with 7:58 to play.

“That’s something we’ve got to get better at, including me,” Pineville coach Bart Elam said. “As a three seed on the road you’re not going to get the best calls in the world and you can’t let it take you out of a game. We did that a little bit — now, they’re a heck of a football team and they were just able to grind us out. That’s the way it goes.”

Logan Crowder would add a 17-yard touchdown run and Mickey Parsons would return an interception 44 yards for another score to put the Rebels up 60-27.

Evans returned the kickoff 97 yards for touchdown to set the final score at 60-34.

Pineville came out strong as they took the opening kick and marched down the field. Combs passed to Evans for 28 yards and Bailey for 26. He ran for 14 yards on keeper and then passed to Bailey again for 16 yards down to the Rebel one. Combs one-yard sneak and Merrick’s kick gave the Lions a 7-0 lead with 8:30 to play in the first.

Allen Central answered quickly as Hunter Crowder broke a tackle and rumbled 82 yards on their first play from scrimmage. He added the two-point conversion run and the Rebels went up 8-7.

Combs passed to Evans for 35-yard touchdown on the next Lion drive and Pineville went up 14-7.

A fumble recovery by Jamie Lawson stopped the Rebels deep in Pineville territory, but the Lions went three and out and Allen Central was able to take the lead on Logan Crowder’s 15-yard touchdown run and the conversion made it 16-14 with six seconds to play in the first.

A Pineville fumble set up Hunter Crowder’s 50-yard touchdown run and Jackson scored from 20 yards out to make it 30-14 with 5:37 remaining in the first half.

The Lions answered before the halftime as Cody Hendrickson found room to run for a 19-yard gain and Bailey hauled in a Combs pass deep over the middle for 34 yards and first down at the Rebel 7. Evans took an end around down to the one an Combs pushed into the end zone one play later to make it 30-20.

Combs finished 13-of-28 passing for 271 yards two touchdowns and two interceptions. Bailey gained 125 yards on four catches while Evans caught three for 106 yards and also ran three times for 30 yards. Eric Raby had five catches for 41 yards and Hendrickson finished with 28 rushing yards on ten carries.

Jarrod Nunnelley also had an interception for Pineville.

Allen Central won the game on the ground as they rolled up nearly 500 rushing yards on 60 carries.

Friday’s loss marked the final high school game for eight Lion seniors who were freshman when Elam took over as coach. Combs, Evans, Widener, Hubbard, Lawson, Merrick, and Kody Bingham as well as Alvin Smith who missed most of the season with a knee injury.

“I’m just proud as heck of my seniors. I don’t really care what kind of football players they are. They’re great kids, I love them to death, and I’m proud of the way they’ve improved during their time at Pineville,” Elam said. “It didn’t happen the way we wanted it to tonight, but that don’t change that they’re great kids and they’ve made themselves better in the four years they’ve been there. Every single one of them have gotten better athletically, emotionally, mentally and for that I’m proud of them.”

Pineville finishes the season with a record of 4-7 while Allen Central (10-1) advances to play at Hazard next week.