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Southside gave it all they had, but they came up short in a 48-28 loss to Houston Academy in the Class 3A semifinals on Friday night.

The Panthers end their season with a final record of 11-3 overall. They set records for the most wins in a season and the most points scored in a season with 553 points.

Houston Academy (13-1) will take on Mars Academy (13-1) for the Class 3A State Championship at the Super 7. The game is set for Thursday at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. 

First quarter

Head coach Charles Moody said earlier this week that he was concerned about giving up big plays. The Raiders got one right off the bat. Houston Academy scored a 60-yard touchdown pass on the opening play from scrimmage. The Panthers were down 7-0 only 14 seconds into the game.

A Panther fumble at their own 35-yard line led to points for Houston Academy. Southside’s defense kept the Raiders out of the end zone, but the Raiders padded their lead on a 28-yard field goal. With 3:50 left in the first quarter, Houston Academy led 10-0.

Southside wouldn’t go away easily as Jaibrien Gresham picked up a fourth down conversion. He then scored on a 2-yard run. He added a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 10-8.

Houston Academy answered with a drive and scored a touchdown with seven seconds left in the first quarter to go up 17-8.

Second quarter

When the Panthers needed a big play, they turned to Auburn commit Derick Smith for a 38-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Latrayveon Davis with 9:08 left in the second quarter. That cut the lead to 17-14.

Houston Academy returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown to take a 24-14 lead.

Cedrick Simmons gave Southside another chance to score on a 48-yard screen pass from Davis to put them deep in Raider territory. But the drive ended after being stopped on fourth-and-1.

The next Raider plays as an 86-yard touchdown pass to put them up 31-14 with 5:27 left before halftime.

Southside was stopped again on fourth-and-short, this time at their own 28. One play later, the Raiders cashed in on a 26-yard touchdown pass to take a commanding 38-14 lead.

Smith wouldn’t let his teammates quit, as he helped lead a touchdown drive, capping it on his 2-yard reception from Davis with 12 seconds left before the break. Simmons caught the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 38-22 at halftime.

Third quarter

Southside was stopped again on fourth-and-short. The Raiders turned it into points on a 20-yard field goal following a lengthy drive that ate up most of the quarter. The lead was now 41-22 with 3:21 left in the third quarter.

After an interception by Southside, the game was delayed for nearly 20 minutes as an ambulance was driven onto the field to respond to an injury along the Houston Academy. The status of the person who was injured at the game was not immediately available after the game.

Fourth quarter

Smith turned the Raiders away on the next possession with a sack on fourth down in the red zone. He also picked up a first down on fourth down to set up his four-yard touchdown run, cutting the lead to 41-28 midway through the fourth quarter.

Houston Academy put the game away with a one-yard touchdown run with 3:48 to go in the game. 

The Panthers got one more chance after a fourth-down stop late in the game, but it ended on an interception.

Smith finished with three touchdowns while Gresham had one score.