All good things must come to an end — including Porters Chapel’s playoff streak.

Newton Academy rushed for nearly 300 yards in the first half, then held off a furious comeback by PCA in the second half to win 40-27 on Friday night.

The victory in the regular-season finale allowed Newton (6-5, 2-1 District 5-A) to secure second place in District 5-A and a berth in the MAIS Class A playoffs. It’ll face Claiborne Academy in the first round next week.

For the first time since 2003, PCA (5-6, 1-2) will stay home for the postseason.

“It hurts. It really does. This one is going to sting for a long time,” PCA coach John Weaver said. “We had so many goals and expectations. We thought if we could get in the playoffs, we could make things happen. Newton has a great team, but I’ll take my guys any day of the week.”

Newton steamrolled PCA in the first half, rolling up 262 rushing yards and scoring 20 points to take a 26-7 halftime lead.

PCA rallied to make a game of it, though. Chris Marshall scored three touchdowns — on a 45-yard punt return, a 10-yard run and a 3-yard reception — to help the Eagles pull within 34-27 midway through the fourth quarter.

Newton then drove for another score with a little over two minutes to play to make it a two-score game again.

Montana McDaniel caught eight passes for 155 yards, including an 84-yard TD pass, for PCA, and Marshall finished with five catches for 87 yards. Quarterback Jonah Masterson completed 13 of 26 passes for 245 yards and two TDs.