MAHOMET - Mahomet-Seymour High School clinched a playoff spot by surviving a furious 21-points fourth-quarter rally by University High as the Bulldogs won 35-24 in the Corn Belt Conference finale.

John Porter finished with 182 yards on 19 carries as Mahomet-Seymour rolled up 325 yards on the ground. U High got 265 yards in total offense from senior quarterback Tyler Cook.

U High (3-6 overall, 2-6 Corn Belt) fell into an early hole as Mahomet-Seymour (6-3, 5-3) raced out to a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Michael Nickrent opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with a 2-yard run at the 6:13 mark of the first quarter. John Porter put the Bulldogs up 14-0 with a 15-yard dash and Nickrent scored again from 1-yard out with 5:51 left in the half.

Connor Galloway booted a 32-yard field goal at the 2:28 mark of the second quarter to get the Pioneers on the board and cut the Mahomet-Seymour margin to 21-3 at intermission.

"They just manhandled us in the first half and we couldn't stop the run," said University High coach Kurt Olson. "We got inside their 20-yard line twice, turned the ball over once and all we could manage was a field goal."

The Bulldogs struck first in the second half when Porter scored again, this time on a 31-yard run, to up the lead to 28-3.

U High started their comeback just 13 seconds into the fourth quarter when Cook scored on an 8-yard run. Cook then hooked up with David Johnson on a 10-yard toss and found Ben Hall with the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 28-18.

Mahomet-Seymour countered when Nickrent scored his third touchdown of the evening, a 9-yard blast with 4:56 left, to give the Bulldogs a comfortable 35-18 lead.

The Pioneers final score came on another Cook-to-Johnson connection from 6 yards out. Cook finished the game with a 18-for-34 performance for 181 yards. Johnson led all receivers with 101 yards on nine receptions.

"The kids fought back hard in the second half," added Olson. "Cook had a great game and the seniors gave their all. They never gave up and I'm extremely proud of all of them."