Pillow Academy was never able to recover from an awful offensive first half.
The Mustangs had just five total yards and one first down and trailed 10-0 at the half before losing 17-10 to Lee Academy for homecoming Friday night at PA's Bill Davis Field.
It was another rough outing for the Mustangs who have been on a downward spiral as of late. They are 2-7 overall, 1-4 in the North AAA Division I standings.
"It was another disappointing loss, but we're going to stay positive as we get a week off before our last game (at Columbus Heritage)," PA head coach Michael Fair said.
Lee (5-4, 3-2) snapped a five-game losing skid to the Mustangs, who will miss the playoffs for the first time in six years.
Pillow opened the second half with a quick score, a 1-yard sneak by quarterback Landon Taylor that was set up by a 50-yard pass from Taylor to senior wide receiver Gaston Lyon.
Pillow tied the game at 10 early in the third quarter on a 29-yard field goal by Kevin Phillips.
Lee answered on its next possession on a 39-yard touchdown pass from xxx to xxx to make it 17-10.
Pillow had a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter after a 14-yard pass from Taylor to Lyon that gave the Mustangs a first-and-10 at the Lee 25-yard line. But after three plays for no yards, Taylor was sacked on fourth down back at the Lee 38.
The Colts took over with 4:39 to play and churned out several first downs on the ground to run out the clock.
Using a triple option attack out of a double slot set, Lee finished with 218 rushing yards on 48 carries. The Colts were only 1 of 3 passing, but the one completion turned out to be the game-winner.
Offensively, it was plain ugly for the Mustangs as they were held to their worst rushing total in Fair's four years as head coach - 6 yards on 25 carries.
Taylor was 9 of 23 passing for 134 yards and two interceptions.
Senior Anthony Ola had five receptions for 54 yards, and Lyon added three grabs for 78 yards.
"We've got two weeks to prepare for our final game. We will keeping working hard and keep fighting to send these seniors out with a win," Fair said.
• Contact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
