Several factors made the third meeting between the programs stand out in a unique way last Saturday.

Whether it was that extra bleachers needed to be carried in or that many of the estimated 6,000 in attendance didn't have a seat to begin with, the smaller setting in Central's Tiger Stadium made for a loud and much more compact experience.

Then there's the matter of what occurred on the field, which was not any less breathtaking as the Tigers took advantage of two miscues on extra points to win 14-12.

While the best season in school history for North ended in a Division I regional quarterfinal, Central improved to 10-1 and earned its ninth playoff win in four seasons.

"The atmosphere was crazy," Tigers senior Malcolm Pannell said. "At Crew Stadium, the environment is more spaced out. We all grew up together and we were all best friends until the school split. At the end of the day, we've still got a lot of respect for them."

Although the district split took place in the 2003-04 school year, the first meeting between Central and North didn't occur until last year when the Tigers blasted the Panthers 38-7 in week five of the regular season.

They met for the second time on Sept. 25, and a fourth-quarter touchdown drive ended up being the difference for Central in a 7-6 victory.

Last Saturday, the margin for error was determined by special teams.

The Tigers took a 7-0 lead with 4 minutes, 33 seconds left in the opening quarter when Willie Tatum scored on a 3-yard run to cap a 10-play, 54-yard drive. The game's first big miscue occurred when a pass interference penalty on North moved the Tigers to the 13-yard line.

The Panthers had their first successful drive late in the second quarter.

An offsides call by Central on third-and-4 from the Tigers' 21 gave North a first down, and with 24.3 seconds left Flaherty ran in to make it 7-6.

Flaherty never had a chance to kick what would have been a tying extra point, however, because of a bad snap.

"We didn't do the little things right," said North coach Tom Phillips, whose team finished 7-4 after making the playoffs for the first time. "Hats off to our seniors because they've bounced back all year. We're a program that's growing and we're going to get stronger."

The Panthers did bounce back in the fourth quarter, but not before the Tigers scored what was the decisive score.

On Central's first third-quarter drive, Tyler Hammond broke for a 48-yard run and North was whistled for a facemask at the end of the play to move the Tigers to the Panthers' 10. Four plays later, Grant Hammond hit Tamani Carter on third-and-goal for a 13-yard touchdown pass and Jake Raymond made the extra point for a 14-6 score.

North picked up only two first downs over its next four drives before putting together what could have been a tying drive.

After his team took over at its own 26 with 3:30 left, Flaherty completed three passes to Shane O'Connell and two to Chad Benson, who scored on a 15-yard diving catch in the end zone with 2:02 to go.

On the two-point conversion attempt, O'Connell fell down and Flaherty's pass went just out of reach.

North got the ball back with 1:31 left, but a fumble by O'Connell was recovered by Jim Poole to seal the outcome.

"I thought we had a couple of areas where we weren't sharp offensively, but in the playoffs it's all about effort," said Central coach Jay Sharrett, whose team plays Hilliard Davidson in a regional semifinal Saturday. "This is a great atmosphere here, and that's what it's all about. These guys know each other, and there was sportsmanship on both sides."

As expected considering the tightness of the earlier meeting this year, both teams had struggles moving the ball.

North was held to 92 yards rushing on 38 carries and 168 yards of offense, and Central punted eight times.

The contest seemed to bring out the best in both teams, however, in terms of preparation.

The Panthers struggled to pass the ball all season but had one of their best passing drills when they moved 74 yards in 1:28 as Flaherty completed 5 of 7 attempts on his team's final scoring drive.

Central, according to two-way starter Eilar Hardy, also added a few wrinkles. Although the Tigers were whistled for two personal fouls, he also believes they kept their composure.

"It's a big game playing against our rivals," Hardy said. "They know us well and we know them well. We added a couple new plays because we knew we had to spread them out a little bit. Defensively we came up big. Late in the last drive we caused a couple of fumbles.

"We knew there was going to be a lot of talking and stuff down there and we had to make sure we didn't have any big penalties. It was a very emotional game."