The Tigers (7-3 overall and 6-2 in the district) visit ninth-ranked Oaks Mission next Friday night while Porum (7-3 and 5-3) travels to second-ranked Foyil.
Porum took an early lead last Friday when William Jones rushed for a 7-yard touchdown with 9:49 left in the opening period, but the conversion run was no good.
Quarterback Stevie Morris of the Tigers ran for a 3-yard TD with 2:13 remaining, but the score remained tied after the conversion pass failed.
The Panthers reclaimed the lead in the second period when quarterback Brandon Clayborn tossed a 20-yard TD pass to receiver Dustin Jamison, and Clayborn threw to tight end Josh Tillery for the conversion.
Later in the quarter Morris ran for his second touchdown of the game, this one a 14-yarder, but the run after the TD failed.
With 34 seconds left before the intermission, Clayborn and Tillery combined for a 6-yard touchdown throw, and the same pair accounted for the conversion pass.
Fifteen seconds after Porum's final TD of the half, Morris completed a 44-yard touchdown pass to end Jose Tarin, and running back Josh Small's conversion run made the score 22-20 in favor of the visitors.
Brian Taylor of the Tigers raced 48 yards for the only touchdown of the third period to give Central a 26-22 advantage heading into the final stanza.
With 11:33 to go in the game, Clayborn completed a 55-yard throw to Tillery for the Panthers' last TD and advantage of the game, and Tillery's conversion reception made the score 30-26.
The Tigers retook the lead when Small crossed the goal line after a 40-yard carry, and end Jace Coffman caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Morris with 3:55 remaining to give the Tigers an eight-point (38-30) advantage.
Central running back Ike Edwards' 22-yard touchdown run with 1:42 left in the contest finished the scoring.
"They've got a good football team and it was an excellent game," Central head coach Kelly Husted said after the contest. "There were a lot of big plays. People got their money's worth tonight.
"Defensively, we finally stepped up and played in the fourth quarter. We started covering the pass better and put them in some third-and-long situations."
Small was the game's leading rusher with 123 yards on 12 carries, and Morris added 46 yards on 20 tries.
Clayborn, who completed 9-of-19 passes for 172 yards, also led the Panthers in rushing with 89 yards on 22 attempts.
Morris was 4-of-19 for 78 yards in the passing department, and his throws were caught by Coffman (two catches for 49 yards), Tarin (one for 44) and Small (one for 11).
Coffman recovered a fumble in the contest for the Tigers and Tarin intercepted a pass.
