Football notebook: Ferriday puts the pedal to the metal

Published 12:02 am Monday, September 22, 2014

Ferriday High School’s Dontrell Domino runs with the football during a game against Vidalia High School Friday. (Sam Gause / The Natchez Democrat)

Ferriday High School’s Dontrell Domino runs with the football during a game against Vidalia High School Friday. (Sam Gause / The Natchez Democrat)

NATCHEZ — If Dontrell Domino wasn’t already a household name in Miss-Lou high school football, it is now.

The Ferriday running back has started off his senior year with a bang, rushing for 459 yards and nine touchdowns through three games and leading the Trojans to a 2-1 record.

“He is the senior leader,” said Ferriday head coach Cleothis Cummings. “That is what we expect out of him. We don’t expect anything less, along with the other seniors.”

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Domino once again showed his dominance Friday, rushing for 164 yards and three touchdowns against Vidalia in a 49-0 win.

“The game plan was to keep the foot on the gas and don’t let them score, and we accomplished that,” Cummings said.

Although it may seem like Domino had a big day, he only played around three quarters after being pulled out of the game when things were getting out of hand.

“I was kind of mad, but at the same time, the freshmen underneath me had to step up,” Domino said.

Domino is on pace for a big season, and with the lofty goal he set for himself, he will accomplish that.

“I am trying to come off my injury and get 100 yards every game,” he said. “That is my goal.”

Domino has also caught the eyes of other coaches with Vidalia head coach Jeff Hancock saying he would be recruiting him if he were still a college coach, before the clash between the two teams.

Cathedral

Drenched in sweat, Cathedral head coach Ron Rushing knew he pulled off the biggest win of the regular season.

Minutes after his Green Wave defeated Resurrection 27-26, Rushing did not take the time to enjoy the victory. Instead, his thoughts were focused ahead on his next opponent.

“It’s just one game at a time,” said Rushing, deflecting any comment on Cathedral’s No. 1 ranking in the MHSAA Class A poll. “That was a great football team, and really, the final poll is the only poll that matters.”

Offensive coordinator Brett Hinson was still reeling from the hard-fought victory, acknowledging the toughness of Resurrection.

“They had me scared,” Hinson said. “They were extremely good.”

A problem Cathedral had early was stopping screen passes, which would lead Resurrection down the field an early scoring drive. Defensive end Will Wallace said the Green Wave had never played against a team who ran that many screens, and it was hard to adjust.

“It was a grind,” Wallace said. “It wasn’t easy because we never played a team all year that ran a screen, so at times, we would try and wait for the screen and they would just run it inside. We came together and finally got it though.”

Cathedral coaches drilled their defensive line, saying, “if they let you go, it’s a screen.” The Green Wave defenders made adjustments and nullified the screen game for the rest of the game. Robert Hargrave got a 12-yard sack on Resurrection quarterback Larry Sisson in the second half because of the adjustments, taking away a potential scoring opportunity.

Just winning isn’t enough satisfaction for some Cathedral players. Quarterback Wyatt Boothe, who had three turnovers in the win, wants to win the next one more decisively.

“We want to run away with it,” Boothe said. “We don’t want to just win it.”