Bishop England fell, 37-13, to Lake City in the opening round of the Class AAA playoffs on Friday.

Lake City limited the Bishops’ option rushing attack to a season-low 115 yards while holding quarterback Leo Albano to just 33 on the ground, his worst mark of the year. Albano completed 10 of his season-high 17 pass attempts for 120 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

"We started off fast but they started bringing everyone on defense and we didn't handle their pressure well," Bishop England coach John Cantey said.

Albano connected with Christian Greavu on a 37-yard touchdown pass to give the Bishops a 7-0 lead with five minutes to play in the first quarter.

Lake City then rang up the next 37 straight, building a four-score advantage by the midway point of the fourth quarter.

The Panthers led by five in the second quarter when Ty’Shawn Baines returned a punt 77 yards for the score to send Lake City into halftime leading 18-7. Baines extended the margin to 18 points with a 15-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the third quarter.

Drew Pampu tacked on a 2-yard touchdown run for Bishop England with less than two minutes to play. Thirty-nine minutes of game time elapsed between the Bishops’ two scores.

"We were playing pretty well for a while but we gave up a couple big plays, like that punt return, that really hurt us," Cantey said. "We still had a chance at halftime but we just came out flat and things went down hill." 

Baines finished with 141 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 8.3 yards per carry. Panthers quarterback Chris Burnett was 10-of-12 passing for 247 yards and a one touchdown.

Lake City, the No. 2 seed out of Region 6, advances to face top-seeded Bluffton in the second round on Friday. Bluffton defeated Swansea, 56-6, in its postseason opener.

Bishop England won its first seven games for the first time since 1981 but dropped three of its final four to close the season.