Ferriday — It was a wild game between the Trojans and the Bulldogs as Ferriday tried to make a comeback in the second half, but Natchez ultimately came out on top in a 36-22 victory Friday night.

Natchez quarterback Sidney Davis threw 13 passes for 192 yards while rushing for 56 yards and a touchdown, but the player who won the game for the Bulldogs was defensive back Cedarius Bailey. Bailey had two crucial interceptions Friday, one resulting in a touchdown.

Reed said Bailey’s defense was a big momentum changer, but he felt his defense still has some things to work on.

“They were huge,” he said. “Bailey made plays, but we still have to go back because we didn’t tackle well in certain spots.”

The first quarter started off slowly as Natchez had the chance to score early. Sidney Davis’s pass to John Ferguson bounced off his shoulders and into the hands of Lee Jackson for what looked like a touchdown at the 8:57 mark.

But officials called the pass incomplete before Jackson ever caught the pass, and Natchez could only slowly recover from that push back in the first quarter.

Natchez would try to get down to Trojan territory again with less than a minute on the clock, but Ferriday’s Adrian Wiggins picked Davis’s pass and rushed 50 yards before getting tackled at the 3-yard line. Two plays later, Ronald Davis rushed in to put the Trojans on the scoreboard first, followed by a two-point conversion pass from Davis to Shannon Morales to make the score 8-0.

Down early, the Bulldogs still had a lot of playing time, and instead of being defeated by a blown call in the first quarter, they made up for it in a big way.

The Bulldogs scored 20 points in the second half, powered by Sidney Davis, who had two consecutive 10-yard runs to get score Natchez’s first touchdown, but Jarell Morris couldn’t connect on the extra-point kick.

At the 2:48 mark, Davis connected a pass to Jackson for a 44-yard touchdown reception, and this time, Morris got the extra-point kick to go.

Ferriday tried to show some signs of life in the second quarter, but Natchez took back the momentum when Bailey intercepted Ronald Davis’s pass and rushed 70 yards for a touchdown. Morris’s kick was good with just 23 seconds left in the half to give Natchez the 20-8 lead.

It seemed like Natchez had all of the momentum going into the locker room, but the Trojans never gave up.

Natchez scored first in the second half on a pass completion from Sidney Davis to Jackson for 34 yards at the 9:40 mark. The extra point kick failed from the snap, but Capre Garner took it into his own hands to rush in for the two-point conversion.

Now ahead 28-8, the Bulldogs were plagued with illegal procedure and holding penalties, and the Trojans took advantage of the fouls.

At the 4;43 mark, Ferriday’s Dontrell Domino rushed 2 yards for the touchdown. Ferriday went for the two-point conversion but couldn’t get it to go as they went into the fourth down 28-14 with plenty of time left.

In the fourth quarter, Trojans had all of the momentum from the crowd after seeing the end zone for the first time in the third quarter since the opening minutes.

Domino rushed for a 2-yard touchdown and was followed by a completed two-point conversion pass from Ronald Davis to Keiwaun Miles.

Now down by just one touchdown, the pressure was on Natchez.

At the 2:10 mark, the Bulldogs were able to score again a 34-yard rush by Tydarrius Terrell. The two-point conversion from Garner to Tiandre Watts connected ti give Natchez a 36-22 lead.

Ronald Davis was injured within the last two minutes of a game with an apparent shoulder injury. He left the game with a sling on his arm.

With just a minute to go, Bailey sealed the deal for the Bulldogs as he made another interception to end the game.

Ferriday head coach Cleothis Cummings was unavailable for comment after the game.

Natchez will home to play Warren Central as Ferriday will head to Block High School at 7 p.m. Friday.