DeSoto School has not lost a football game in the past two seasons. Its latest victim, Porter’s Chapel Academy, found out why.

Ethan Phillips threw two touchdown passes, DeSoto scored two defensive touchdowns, and the reigning MAIS Class 2A champions moved closer to another state title with a 52-6 victory over Porter’s Chapel in the second round of the playoffs on Friday.

DeSoto (11-0) won its 25th consecutive game and advanced to face Newton Academy in the semifinals next week. Newton beat Ben’s Ford 49-12 in another second-round game Friday.

“It’s always tough. It’s a season-ending loss,” PCA coach Blake Purvis said. “We had some bad breaks early and fell behind. It’s a tough place to play. Kind of similar to last year, where we had some opportunities and catch a bad break early in the game. It wasn’t just an onslaught of stuff.”

PCA (8-5) had its season end against DeSoto for the second year in a row. The Thunderbirds beat PCA 52-14 in the Class 2A semifinals in 2023.

The Eagles still won a playoff game for the third year in a row — the first time they’ve accomplished that feat since a four-year streak from 2005-08 — and had their third winning record in four years.

“That’s four years in a row in the playoffs, three years in a row with a playoff win. We’re establishing ourself as a postseason football program and that’s where our guys expect to be,” Purvis said. “It’s not about a winning record any more. It’s about getting our spot in the playoffs and making a run at it.”

Eli Pillow caught a 2-yard TD pass from Phillips on the game’s opening possession, but DeSoto did not really get rolling until the second quarter.

A long Porter’s Chapel drive ended on downs inside the 20, then a long completion from Phillips to Peyton Gregory set up a 28-yard TD run by Pillow — and started an avalanche.

Pillow had a 50-yard touchdown run, Phillips threw a 2-yard TD pass to Gregory, and then Gregory scooped up a fumble and returned it 64 yards for another touchdown that put DeSoto ahead 38-0 with a minute to go in the first half.

DeSoto scored 30 points in all in the second quarter, then added two more touchdowns in the third.

“It slowly got out of hand. It never quickly snowballed on us. Over time, they just stretched it out,” Purvis said. “A couple penalties here and there, and a turnover, and they capitalized and we didn’t.”

Porter’s Chapel avoided the shutout with its last offensive snap of the season. Jase Jung scored on a 3-yard run with two minutes left to make the final score 52-6. The two-point conversion was no good, and the running clock ran out before the ensuing kickoff.

Jung finished with 123 yards and the one touchdown on 15 carries. He also had five tackles on defense.